I absolutely cannot wait for these movies to come out – you have no idea! I love ‘Lord of the Rings’!!

After a number of delays, Peter Jackson’s prequel to the Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is shooting in New Zealand, and some of the first looks at the characters in action have been made available. Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we see Ian McKellan back as Gandalf, looking very wise and pensive. Perhaps he’s getting ready to lead Bilbo Baggins, played by “Sherlock Holmes” and “The Office” star Martin Freeman, to the Lonely Mountain.

Jackson has been giving some updates from the set, including this remarkable ten minute look into the beginning of production.

Also making appearances in the film will be some of the stars of the first three movies, including Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom and Cate Blanchett.

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You spend $50 million on your own airplane.

Filmmaker and aviation buff Peter Jackson will be taking off from Middle Earth in style the next time he flies – the “Lord Of The Rings” mastermind has purchased a new private plane.

The director has reportedly spent $50 million on a Gulfstream G550, which can fly non-stop from New Zealand to Los Angeles.

The G550 can accomodate up to 16 passengers, with seats that can be converted into beds.

The craft replaces Jackson’s Gulfstream IV, which could only make the journey with a refueling stop in Samoa or Hawaii, reports Stuff.co.nz.

Jackson collects vintage airplanes and currently has approximately 29 World War I and replica crafts in his fleet.

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A week after DreamWorks picked up Peter Jackson’s “Lovely Bones,” Steven Spielberg and Jackson are teaming up again, this time to bring Spielberg’s long-gestating pet project “Tintin” to the big screen.

Sources said Monday that Jackson and Spielberg would each direct installments of the franchise, which is based on a series of Belgian comic books called “The Adventures of Tintin” by Herge. It is unclear whether other filmmakers would be involved, and no script has been written.

The movies would be made using motion-capture technology.

In the comics, Tintin is a young Belgian reporter and world traveler who is aided in his adventures by his faithful dog Snowy. He later was joined by such colorful characters as Captain Haddock, Professor Cuthbert Calculus and bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson. The books, hugely popular in Europe, have been translated into 50 languages, with more than 200 million sold.

Spielberg is a lifelong Tintin fan, first optioning the film rights just before Herge, whose real name is Georges Remi, died in 1983.

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