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EAGLEMOSS TO RELEASE PARTWORKS COLLECTIONS FOR THE TWO FILMS BASED ON THE HOBBIT AND THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY
LONDON – June 11, 2012 - Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) is proud to announce that it has awarded leading partworks producer Eaglemoss the global licensing rights to develop collections based on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Under the terms of the deal, the licensee also has the rights to develop products based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Eaglemoss has already successfully launched DC Chess and Figurines Collections and now is extending its relationship with WBCP to develop figurine and chess partworks for the two films based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy that will launch in Q4 2012.
Each partwork collection will be a fortnightly series that offers movie fans, figurine collectors or chess lovers alike the chance to collect fantastic and unique chess pieces or figurines, each of which will be a true representation of the iconic characters from the two-film adaptation of The Hobbit, as well as The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels. Every chess piece or figurine comes with a magazine featuring images and artwork from the two films based on The Hobbit, as well as vital chess tips.
Bruno Schwobthaler, Senior Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Warner Bros. Consumer Products EMEA, said, "The Eaglemoss partwork collections will offer fans the chance to immerse and interact with the fantastical world of Middle-earth in a way in which has never been available before. The global scale of this deal and the quality and variety of products that will be available to collect reflects the widespread appeal of the two films based on The Hobbit. We're confident that this product is going to be a huge hit with all consumers."
Andrew Jarvis, CEO, Eaglemoss, added, "We are delighted to have the opportunity to build on our success with partworks based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and to be developing new collections based on the magical characters, events and locations from the two films based on The Hobbit. We aim to create top quality collectibles that will become the classics of the future for fans of all ages."
About The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again
From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of two films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit. The second film will be The Hobbit: There and Back Again. Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released beginning December 14, 2012. The second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013.
Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins. Also reprising their roles from "The Lord of the Rings" movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O'Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner.
The screenplays for both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are productions of New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing, being handled by MGM.
About Middle-earth Enterprises
The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. SZC has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on the Tolkien works for more than 30 years. Its headquarters are located in Berkeley, California and its Middle-earth Enterprises' website may be found at http://www.middleearth.com.
About Warner Bros. Consumer Products
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.
About Eaglemoss
With a team of talented professionals and excellent partnerships with major licensors, Eaglemoss Collections represents the best of partwork creativity and success, and offers a wide portfolio of publishing products and services. We publish our collections worldwide from UK to Australia and Russia to Japan, with offices in London, Paris, Moscow and Tokyo. In 2011 Eaglemoss merged with GE Fabbri to create a new partwork publishing powerhouse.
© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.
Submitted by News on Tue, 2012-06-12 20:23