31st December
1. DA Man Magazine have republished their interview with Richard with 8 new photographs from the Mitchell McCormack photoshoot. The 8 new pictures and the original article are in the DA MAN magazine gallery. Click ‘original image’ to see the full size and to read the interview, which is also on the Interviews page (scroll down to 28 Nov 2014).
2. Richard has recorded a new voiceover for the Barclays Bank’s Digital Eagles campaign. Thanks to Lillianschild for these links. Advert 1 and a longer version in advert 2.
3. Moviefone interview: Richard Armitage says farewell to ‘The Hobbit’. A fairly long Q&A with similar questions, though he does talk about Guillermo del Toro, wanting to work with Peter again and the two projects for next year that he’s mentioned before.
4. Anna has passed on an extract from Star Malaysia with a new picture from Sarah Dunn’s photoshoot. Click to enlarge:
5. As promised in the news 3rd December, the transcript of the interview in All Film magazine is now available with thanks to Amanda Aayusya for the transcript. Click here to read more. Soundbites from the interview were posted in the news 14th December below.
26th December
1. GQ Thailand have interviewed Richard and posted two new photos from the Mitchell McCormack photoshoot that took place in October. The new photos are below (click to enlarge) and I have added the new photos to the end of the DA MAN magazine gallery, which shows the rest of the photoshoot. An English translation of this article is in progress and will appear soon.
2. AMC Theatres interviewed Richard in the recent London press junket, and although many questions are not really new, Richard does state what he misses about NZ. This interview has been added to the growing list on the BOTFA Video Clips and Interviews page.
3. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is released in Australia today and Australian news site News.com.au has an interview with him about the experience. Ian McKellen is quoted in the interview talking about Richard:
“It’s not easy to play a troubled hero,” says McKellen. “You want your hero to carry the day without a care in the world and be as good looking as Richard is. But Richard carries inside Thorin a soulfulness which is necessary, which Gandalf doesn’t really know how to cope with …”
4. Thanks to Angelique for sharing her six photos of Richard at the London Hobbit premiere in December. The first of six is here in the gallery. Click ‘original image’ to see the full size and quality.
5. Colombian radio station WRadio broadcast an interview with Richard today that took place during the UK press junket in London. The interview starts at 0:30s. Thanks to faboamanto.
6. GoErie.com published an interview with the following comment about Richard: “‘The Hobbit’ series has catapulted him from a familiar face on BBC TV dramas to the kind of recognition that hashtags are made of” but many of the questions cover familiar ground.
7. This article appeared in today’s Chicago Tribune. Thank you to Ruth for the alert and to Tina for the scan. Click to enlarge.
1. I’ve added a gallery of pictures of Richard taken at the various Battle of the Five Armies events this month. So far I only have pictures from Guylty and Sandrine (thank you very much ladies!) Any other donations will be gratefully received. Please email me at the address above. Thank you.
2. I have now repaired the Guestbook – sorry it has been out of action!
3. More interviews are being added to the BOTFA Video Clips and Interviews page, including two new ones posted yesterday under the heading ‘UK Press Junket interviews, Claridge’s Hotel, London’ from Blacktree TV and the Associated Press.
4. What’s On Stage have published their review of London theatre in 2014, with a special mention of Richard: “My play highlights for the year were The Crucible – with excellent Richard Armitage giving what must be arguably one of the finest stage performances of 2014″.
1. Richard has sent us all a Christmas message. Read it on my home page or see his tweets sent earlier today: one and two. Previous messages sent to fans/friends since 2004 are on the RA Messages page.
2. Stephen Collins at BritishTheatre.com has reviewed the best of 2014 and stated that Richard’s performance as John Proctor is the ‘Best performance by a male in a play’: “an astonishing achievement by any measure, not the least because it was so unexpected…Armitage’s Proctor was mesmerising, utterly believable and thoroughly compelling. And it has stayed with me, in a way that others have not…”
3. A donation of £143.42 plus gift aid has been made today to Crisis, a charity nominated by Richard in his tweet of 18 December as a result of referral fees paid to this site every time you buy something from Amazon UK and Amazon DE using the links on this site. Thank you! Payments from Amazon US will be made in early 2015.
4. Thank you to Adeline for this scan of an interview with Richard in the New Straits Times, one of the top daily English papers in Malaysia. There’s some interesting new comments, including his thoughts on on other actors and crew members he was looking forward to working with. Click the images to enlarge.
Veloce on twitter found an electronic version of the cover photo which was forwarded to the photographer Sarah Dunn. An online version of the article is here.
5. Adeline also sent a scan of the print edition of the Asian Wall Street Journal. You might recognise this interview, as a link to the online Wall Street Journal was posted in the news 5th December with the new picture from Urban and the Shed Crew.
The Crucible Video and Audio interviews page has been completed updated with all clips over the past few months. Check it out here.
1. Barbara Chai interviewed Richard again this year for the Wall Street Journal: ‘How Richard Armitage let Thorin become unhinged in The Hobbit‘. Some new information revealed about himself and his family in this interview and spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the film. On the impact The Hobbit has had on his life:
“It was a huge chunk of my life. It’s almost like I have to think, what happened before “The Hobbit”? Where was I? I have to try and remember those bits because “The Hobbit” is so vivid in my head, and fairly recent. I think the way it’s changed my life is that the global reach of the films has an impact.”
2. Empire Online‘s interview with Richard: ‘The Hobbit Celebration: Richard Armitage Q&A’.
“In terms of the logistics, there’d be two or three units working and we’d know that Bard was with his army fighting somewhere up on Mount Cook, and we’d be at the studio doing our fight, so it was pretty exciting. So no one knew what anyone else had done. Nobody knew about anybody else’s fight scenes. But every single sword swing and punch that I threw has ended up in the film, which I was really surprised about.”
3. Video and an article from the LA Times Hero Complex Q&A held on 11 December: ‘Hobbit: Lee Pace, Richard Armitage salute Peter Jackson’s ‘Battle’ vision’. I have added 8 new photos from The Hobbit: BOTFA that appeared in this article to the end of the Hobbit Stills gallery.
4. A new gallery has been added to the Promotional Shoots gallery on this site. Six pictures taken in Hollywood on 8 December 2014 by Genaro Molina were posted on the LA Times Hero Complex site and are now in the gallery.
5. This article by Joanne Soh for AsiaOne is very complimentary about Richard’s portrayal of Thorin and his career to date.
6. Vote for your favourite cover of DA MAN magazine for 2014 (voting for Richard of course!) HERE.
1. Here is the second and final part of The Anglophile Channel’s interview with Richard. A very interesting, relaxed and informal chat. Enjoy!
2. LA Times Hero Complex published an interview with Richard today, summarising his whole career as well as his thoughts on playing Thorin. Some lovely pictures too, including six new photos from Genaro Molina.
The Anglophile Channel’s interview with Richard that took place in Los Angeles last week is now on YouTube. Part 2 will follow soon.
1. Marlise Boland interviewed Richard while he was in Los Angeles last week and here is a teaser for the interview. The full interview will be posted at 12:00pm (PST) today (16th December).
2. Crave Online’s interview with Richard is well worth a read for his answers on playing Thorin’s dragon sickness, following Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance (I can confirm that it is obvious when Richard’s performance is deliberately influenced by Benedict’s dragon in one particular scene), how the experience has changed him and there is more information on two projects for 2015. Note there are 4 pages to the interview.
3. This 17 Year Journey video posted by Warner Bros UK is a wonderful, and if you are a huge Middle-earth fan, emotional video chronicling Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films, with some new footage from The Battle of the Five Armies.
4. Two more soundbites have been posted by @GeekInc18 for the Indonesian “All Film” magazine and there is another new photo by Sarah Dunn to accompany them (click image below to enlarge). Click here to read more and listen. Richard’s interview transcript will be available in English after the film premieres in Indonesia (17 December). Scroll down to the news on 3rd December for the previous soundbite.
5. Information about TheOneRing.net’s “One Last Party”, which will take place on 21 February 2015 in Los Angeles, is on this page with a video message from Richard from the red carpet in London.
6. General message to all who have contacted me: I am very grateful to those who have emailed with info about the recent publicity tour and I am sorry I haven’t had time to reply individually to many of you. I will catch up eventually but work and family has taken precedence. I hope to catch up in 2016 (joke!)
1. Richard Armitage and Lee Pace will be at the Apple Store, Prince St, New York today from 7.00-8.00pm. Details here.
2. TheOneRing.net were the only providers of a livestream from the LA premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Their full video is here on YouTube and Richard appears at 1:51:30 or you can watch an edited video of just Richard here.
1. Peter Jackson will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today at 11.30 PST, 7.30pm UK time. Watch the live stream on WalkofFame.com. Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans and Elijah Wood will be there to watch the proceedings. Live stream also here on YouTube.
2. Richard has recorded a short video for Swedish fans who can seeThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies from 10th December.
1. Richard attended the Comic Con Experience (CCXP) in São Paulo, Brazil today. Take a look at his twitter feed as he has been posting pictures from the event and will probably continue to do so for the rest of the day. You do not need a twitter account to look at his tweets.
He was interviewed in Omelete’s booth at the event and I posted a summary of his comments on my twitter feed. The full interview is now on YouTube, with thanks to @ben_in_t on twitter for recording and allowing me to upload. Make sure you choose a HD setting for the best quality.
Here is a screencapture from the interview and a photo tweeted by the CCXP official twitter account (click to enlarge):
During the interview Richard said the following:
“I’m producing something of my own, which is based on a true story. It’s going to be set and filmed in Ireland in the late 1800s, it’s a true story and I’m also going to be doing a thing called Pilgrimage, which is an 11th century story of a crusade to return a holy relic to Rome, and I’ll be speaking ancient French. Which I have never spoken before so that’ll be fun.”
2. UK Film News has kindly shared their pictures of Richard at the UK press conference on 2nd December with me, which I have added to the BOTFA Premieres gallery (this gallery is being updated daily). Here is their review of the film.
3. Audible.com have announced that Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel by A.J. Hartley and David Hewson and narrated by Richard Armitage is their 2014 Audiobook of the Year!
“Richard Armitage (of The Hobbit films) delivers a spellbinding performance, drawing on his experience with the Royal Shakespeare Company to bring this suspenseful, tragic tale to life. The result is a one-of-a-kind audio experience that reinvigorates a timeless classic for fans of the story while allowing others to discover it in a whole new way.”
1. Richard talks about The Crucible, The Hobbit, being an estate agent, violent roles and unfulfilled ambitions in today’s Metro newspaper, distributed in London. Thanks to Orpheus. Click the image below to read.
2. You can read the English transcript of Richard’s french Q&A with Warner Bros France on twitter yesterday here. Many thanks to Suzelle for a fantastic job with this.
3. In the Q&A mentioned above, Richard mentioned a new project called Pilgrimage which begins shooting next April in Ireland and Belgium. This film will be directed by Brendan Muldowney with a screenplay by Jamie Hannigan. Details here on the production website and a report on ScreenDaily (click below if this article does not appear).
The synopsis is as follows:
Ireland, 1209. An island on the edge of the world.
A small group of monks begin a reluctant pilgrimage across an island torn between centuries of tribal warfare and the growing power of Norman invaders.
Escorting their monastery’s holiest relic – a rock used in the martyrdom of St. Mathias, the thirteenth apostle – to Rome, the monks’ progress is seen through the eyes of a pious young novice and a mute lay-brother with a violent past.
As the true material, political and religious significance of the bejewelled relic becomes dangerously apparent, their path to the east coast becomes increasingly fraught with danger.
The monks belatedly realise that in this wild land of ancient superstitions, the faith that binds them together may ultimately lead to their destruction
4. A new interview was published yesterday in the Wall Street Journal: Richard Armitage’s Journey from Musicals to Middle-earth. Note: this interview contains a new photo from the set of Urban and the Shed Crew, which I have also posted in the Urban and the Shed Crew gallery. Click to enlarge.
5. Videos and pictures from last night’s Hobbit Paris premiere are on the BOTFA Video Clips and Interviews page and I have added a gallery of pictures. I have more to add to this page and the gallery tonight and as the events continue to take place, so please keep checking back.
6. Clips from the premiere of The Crucible in London on 2nd December have been posted by CinemaLive on YouTube, including a brief chat with Richard.
7. Please vote now for Richard, Yael Farber, Adrian Schiller, Anna Madeley or Samantha Colley (who are nominated in the same category) and The Crucible in the What’s On Stage awards.
8. Sarah Dunn has posted the following pictures of Richard from her recent Hobbit shoot: these pictures in F*** magazine (click a single picture to enlarge) and this photo tweeted on 4 December.
9. Update 22 Dec: An exclusive interview back stage at The Old Vic was made available by Digital Theatre for a limited time. Thank you to Wolke Strahl for uploading to YouTube. I think it’s quite a poignant interview. Well worth a watch.
Watch the Paris premiere starting at 7pm UK time live here or here.
1. Richard appeared on ITV’s breakfast show Good Morning Britain today and I have uploaded the interview to YouTube. I have updated this link from this morning, as this now includes a few extra clips before the interview begins.
Richard Arnold, who has interviewed Richard a few times in the past, tweeted a picture of himself with Richard backstage in the ITV studios.
Richard tweeted a selfie before the interview this morning.
2. Thanks to Rebecca for this amazing picture of The Hobbit banners in Times Square, New York City and also for this close-up of the Thorin, Fili and Kili banner. Richard added this comment shortly afterwards.
3. The organisers of last night’s premiere of The Crucible have sent 6 photos to this site to share with you all: Crucible premiere gallery. Each photo is very large – click ‘original image’ to see the full size of each photo. Many cinemas around the UK and Ireland are showing The Crucible on Thursday and Sunday evening this week, as well as other dates in the next few days. Visit TheCrucibleOnScreen.com to check your local cinema. European, Australian and New Zealand screening dates have also been added.
More pictures can be found on Digital Theatre’s Facebook page.
4. The Indonesian “All Film” magazine have interviewed Richard and Martin and published some stunning photos by Sarah Dunn to accompany the article. Read more details here and scroll down to listen to some interesting soundbites. Thank you to the writer of the article (@GeekInc18) for tweeting the link. Richard and Martin’s interview transcripts will be available in English after the film premieres in Indonesia (17 December).
1. Videos and pictures from last night’s Hobbit world premiere are on the BOTFA Video Clips and Interviews page. This page will be continually updated in the next few days.
2. Warner Bros Pictures have posted an exclusive clip from The Hobbit: BOTFA: ‘Thorin must be warned’.
3. Thank you to Orpheus for these scans of Hobbit reviews in today’s Daily Mail and Daily Mirror. Click to read. I’m haven’t read these so I have no idea of the content.
4. Richard has been interviewed by The Guardian about The Crucible: Richard Armitage on The Crucible: ‘the audience were being attacked’. This page features a new video clip from the production.
“I’m definitely going to work with Yaël again – I don’t know how soon that’s going to be. But we are planning another production. We want to really expand and explore something we touched on in The Crucible. But I can’t say anything just yet…”
5. Time Out Backstage have a short interview with Richard about The Crucible. Click below to enlarge.
6. Thanks to Petra who writes that Slovak, Czech and Polish fans may wish to know that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be shown on Slovak TV on Saturday 6 December at 8:30pm, channel TV JOJ.
7. Watch the full UK press conference with the Hobbit cast held earlier today.
8. Richard Armitage, director Yaël Farber and the rest of the cast of The Crucible have attended the premiere screening of the play this evening at the Mayfair Hotel in London. Have a look at the following twitter feeds for pictures and quotes from Richard and Yaël: @DT_Plus, @WhatsOnStage and @DigitalTheatre. I will post these pictures in the gallery soon.
9. Yaël Farber and Anna Madeley talked about the filming of The Crucible on BBC News 24 earlier today. I missed the start, but the rest of the interview is here on YouTube.
10. HeroComplex have announced that Richard, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom and Luke Evans will attend a free IMAX screening of The Hobbit: BOTFA in New York City on 11th December and they will be present at a special Q&A afterwards. The link to RSVP for tickets is not currently working, but hopefully they will fix it soon.
11. Another Hobbit clip from IGN: Galadriel and the white council fight back.
12. Richard will be on Good Morning Britain on ITV tomorrow morning between 6am and 8.30am. I will record it and upload to YouTube.
1. Many thanks to Orpheus for this scan of the print edition of Friday’s Times interview with Richard. Click to enlarge.
A comprehensive list of print interviews going back to 2004 can be found on the Interviews page.
2. Sarah Dunn has shared this fantastic picture of Richard on twitter, her favourite photo of them all.
3. The live stream of the World Premiere starts at 5.15pm and can be watched on this site or here.
4. Richard’s interview on the green carpet with Alex Zane is here.
5. Photos from the event: Getty Images, Wire Image and Zimbio.
6. Here is Richard’s selfie taken just before he arrived in Leicester Square this evening. I will compile a set of pictures from this event after today and will put them in the gallery.
7. BBC News: Richard Armitage: Final Hobbit scene ‘a big emotional moment’ a video interview with Richard and then Peter Jackson.
1. Richard will be making several appearances over the next 10 days to attend premieres and events for the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. As in previous years, I will compile all the news, video clips, photos and interviews and you will find them on this BOTFA Video Clips and Interviews page.
If you attend any of these events and would like to share your photos with this site, I would be very grateful to hear from you. Please contact Ali at [email protected]. Thank you.
2. Special Hobbit TV programmes in France: the ARTE channel will show a special documentary “Tolkien, des mots, des mondes” on 3 December at 22:20. Also starting Sunday 30 November to 28 December will be a documentary series of 5 episodes “à la recherche du Hobbit” by Olivier Simonnet, broadcast every Sunday at 12:00. Thanks to Chantal.
1. Richard appeared on Irish radio Newstalk today at 6pm talking to Philip Molloy about The Hobbit. The interview was recorded shortly after The Crucible finished in September. I recorded the interview and you can listen to it here. Thanks to @cobblepots on twitter for the heads-up.
2. Ed Potton interviewed Richard for The Times, which appeared in yesterday’s print edition and here online: Richard Armitage: ‘You get to an age when you’re not totty any more’. The article is behind a paywall, but Richard Armitage US on Facebook have posted the entire article. I am hoping to have a scan of the print article on the site later.
3. Voting for the Jameson Empire Awards 2015 is now open. Vote for Richard here and scroll down to enter a competition to attend the event.
4. If you are planning to attend the World Premiere of The Hobbiton Monday evening, you will need to read this information from Warner Bros Insider regarding wristbands and other regulations. Here is a link to a livestream of the event that will go live at 5.30pm on Monday 1st December.
5. Charlotte Cripps interviewed Richard about theatre, film, TV, books and music in a short article that features in today’s Radar magazine from The Independent newspaper. Click the thumbnail below to open and click again to enlarge.
6. DA MAN magazine is available earlier than expected — you can now download it from the SCOOP app on your phone or tablet for only £1.99 or US $2.99. If you look at the twitter window on my home page you will see that Richard tweeted a few pictures from the shoot yesterday and today. DA MAN Magazine gallery here.
1. DA MAN Magazine have an image of the front cover of the Dec/Jan 2015 issue featuring Richard on their website. Click the image below to enlarge. Ordering information for the issue was posted in yesterday’s news.
2. Cine Premiere magazine have published this photo of the Hobbit cast in their latest issue (split in half due to magazine fold). Original source.
3. Since posting the news above, Sarah Dunn has tweeted the original photo. Click the thumbnail below to enlarge. Sarah announced yesterday on her Facebook page that she will release more photos in the next few days to celebrate the world premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in London on 1st December.
4. The Hollywood Reporter have announced that Peter Jackson will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 8th December and Richard, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans and Elijah Wood will be there to watch the proceedings. Richard tweeted this news on 25 November and his reaction here.
5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be shown on TV for the first time in Australia on Friday 28 November at 8.30pm, channel 9. Thanks to TEHI for this info.
6. The Crucible has won five awards from Broadway World, including ‘Best Leading Actor in A New Production of a Play’, won by Richard! Congratulations Richard and the whole team. Read the full list of winners here.
I’m pleased to share two new photos that I’ve received from DA MAN magazine today, as they announce that their issue featuring Richard will be out next week. They have asked me to suggest that you follow their twitter account so that you will be alerted when the issue featuring Richard is available. News about this issue was first posted below on 31st October and 1st November.
Here are the new photos – click to enlarge.
Richard will appear in the Dec 2014/Jan 2015 issue and there will be around 10 pages of photos and an interview in the magazine. For details about how to order the digital version, see this useful tweet by Andrew Novialdi who received the information from the editor of the magazine. For print issues, visit their website. The magazine have informed me that a digital copy of the magazine can also be ordered via Zinio or Press Reader. The issue with Richard will appear next week.
1. Richard has reached the semi-final of BBC America’s Anglo Fan Favourites tournament. To vote for him, click here (even though it’s against one of my favourites David Tennant!)
2. Richard tweeted Empire’s cover showing the Heirs of Durin yesterday – very impressive! There will be 5 different covers to choose from, just as there were last year (scroll to the news 31 October 2013). This page on Empire’s online site shows the covers, including the subscriber’s only cover and an exclusive behind-the-scenes still that Richard also tweeted a few days ago (scroll down the page).
3. Richard on Polish television: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Captain America: The First Avenger will be shown on Polish TV in the next few days. Click here for listings. Thanks to Ania.
1. Richard has been quoted in two European articles recently about The Hobbit that Servetus has kindly translated into English:
- Osnabrücker Zeitung, “Hobbit 3: Who is Richard Armitage, aka Thorin Oakenshield?” English translation
- El Pais, “Hobbit, the circle closes”. English translation
2. Sarah Dunn’s ‘hiding the beard’ pictures that Richard has been teasing about since the shoot took place last August on twitter have been posted in the last few days from his twitter account. Beard pic 1, pic 2 and pic 3.
3. Cinema dates for screenings of The Crucible have been announced for Australia, New Zealand and Europe now on the TheCrucibleonScreen.com. This list is not exclusive, so check your local cinema. Keep checking back for other countries and regions.
1. Le Grand Rex have confirmed that Peter Jackson, Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage will attend the Hobbit premiere on 4th December 2014 in Paris. Richard also confirmed on twitter yesterday with a funny picture.
2. AJ Hartley, co-author of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel that Richard narrated, has tweeted a link to an interview he gave about writing, which includes some comments about Richard’s impressive performance. Click the link in the tweet to read a transcript and watch the video of the interview.
“I don’t think I had fully understood his range as an actor until I heard what he was doing that one, because a voice actor has to do everything, not just narration, but all the different characters and such. He is terrific, wonderful.”
Yesterday Richard tweeted that dates for cinema screenings of The Crucible in Australia and New Zealand have been announced on the TheCrucibleonScreen.com site. Click ‘Find a Cinema’ in the menu and scroll down to see available dates in February and March 2015.
As announced previously, many cinemas in the UK and Ireland will be showing the play on 4th and 7th December, but there are other December dates available at different cinemas. My local cinema is not listed on TheCrucibleonScreen.com site but it is definitely showing the play, so check your local cinema.
The Cruciblewill not be shown in USA or Canada due to rights issues – see news 1st November below.
Two more TV Spots have appeared for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: TV Spot 2, TV Spot 3.The former has some Thorin, the latter, not so much.
As we already know, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies World Premiere will be in London on 1st December, as announced by the cast on 29 October. Details are emerging of other premieres around the world.
- 1st December: London World Premiere, Leicester Square. Exact cinema to be announced.
- 4th December: Paris premiere at Le Grand Rex cinema, 8.30pm. Members of the cast will attend, but exactly who has not yet been confirmed. Official announcement on Le Grand Rex Facebook page.
- 7th December: Richard will appear at the Comic Con Experience (CCXP) in São Paulo, Brazil. Richard will introduce the screening of the film at 10.30am. He will also appear at the Warner Bros. panel later that day. Details in Portuguese and English (via Google translate, so it’s not great but you get the gist).
- 9th December: US premiere in Los Angeles, TCL Chinese theater on Hollywood Blvd. This will be the last premiere.
TheOneRing.net have tweeted a rumour that Lee Pace and Luke Evans will attend a premiere of the film in Toronto on 6th December. Another rumour about a premiere in New York on 8th December is unconfirmed.
1. The first TV spot for The Hobbit BOTFAhas appeared on YouTube and features a few new shots, including this one of Thorin (click to enlarge):
2. This Friday is the 10th anniversary of the broadcast of North and South episode 1 on BBC1 in the UK and a group watch is being arranged by some fans. Click here for details via their twitter page.
I have added all of Richard’s messages posted 2004 – 2013 to the site, which include messages previously received by me in 2008 while I was temporary co-admin of The Armitage Army website (now closed). Read them on the RA messages page. You may also notice that a new widget has been added to the home page showing Richard’s twitter feed.
The new trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has arrived! There are lots of places to watch it depending on whether you prefer YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, but here’s the link to Warner Bros UK on YouTube.
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Screencaps from the trailer are in the gallery.
Lovely message from Richard to Peter, Fran and Philippa here on twitter.
1. The next trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will be released this Thursday at 6pm UK time, which is 10am Pacific US time. The announcement was made by the official Hobbit Movie twitter page yesterday and Deadline Hollywood confirmed the exact timing of the online release.
Accompanying the announcement was a new banner showing the Heirs of Durin: Thorin, Fili and Kili. The Hobbit UK Facebook and The Hobbit Movie US Facebook pages also made the announcement with the new banner, but the banners showed different dates to reflect the UK release date of 12 December and the US release date of 17 December. The banner on the US page is larger so I have added this to the Hobbit Stills gallery, or click below to enlarge:
2. A donation of £362.18 plus gift aid has been made today to Shelter, one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. (Note the total has gone over £40.000!)
Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for using the Amazon links on the home page of this site. It is not just RA DVDs and audiobooks that will earn referral fees for charity, but ANY ITEM that Amazon sells, so please click on the Amazon logos on the home page for your shopping, or use the RAnet Amazon Stores for RA specific items.
3. The Hobbit twitter account and Facebook page have posted another new banner announcing the release of the new trailer on Thursday. This has also been added to the Hobbit Stills gallery, or click below to enlarge.
4. Thanks to Frances who has left a comment on the home page to say that today Amazon.com has a daily deal on some British TV DVDs, including:
- the complete series of Robin Hood for $39.99
- the Elizabeth Gaskell Collection, which includes North and South for $22.99
- The Vicar of Dibley – The Immaculate Collection for $30.99, which includes Richard’s two episodes.
The sale ends tonight at midnight (11:59pm Pacific time on Tuesday, Nov. 4th). To order via this site and earn money for charity, click on the Amazon.com logo on the home page, or click here and start ordering. The RAnet code will be tagged on all subsequent purchases, a referral fee will be earned and I will pay the commission to charity. Thank you!
1. Richard tweeted today to announce that unfortunately The Crucible will not be shown in cinemas in the US due to copyright issues: tweet one, two and three. It should be available for download however, details still to be confirmed. The download will be available via the Digital Theatre website.
2. The photographer for DA MAN magazine, Mitchell Nguyen McCormack, posted another picture of Richard and himself on his Instagram page today. Sorry, it looks like the picture posted in yesterday’s news has been removed from Instagram.
1. Richard attended a photoshoot with photographer Mitchell Nguyen McCormack on Thursday for DA Man Magazine, an Indonesian fashion and lifestyle magazine. His tweet reveals that the beard is gone!
Richard will appear in the Dec 2014/Jan 2015 issue and there will be around 10 pages of photos and an interview in the magazine. For details about how to order the digital version, see this useful tweet by Andrew Novialdi who received the information from the editor of the magazine. For print issues, visit their website. The magazine have informed me that a digital copy of the magazine can also be ordered via Zinio or Press Reader. The issue with Richard will appear in early December 2014.
The photographer Mitchell Nguyen McCormack posted a picture of Richard and himself on his Instagram page (update: picture removed).
2. A new poster for The Hobbit BOTFA has been posted on The Hobbit Belgium’s Facebook page. I have added this to the Hobbit Stills gallery. Thanks to @PryftanAW on twitter.
3. The 2014 Anglophenia fan favourites competition begins tomorrow and they have listed the 32 contenders, including Richard who appears at #1! (What do you mean the list is alphabetical…?)
4. An article in the Scunthorpe Telegraph about Fraser Kelly, states that Urban and the Shed Crew has been submitted for selection at the Cannes Film Festival! I will look out for more news on this and keep fingers crossed that it is successful.
1. Sarah Dunn posted a photo on twitter this morning showing Richard on the set of Sleepwalker in the early hours of the morning eating ice-cream. The picture has been added to the Sleepwalker gallery or click this image to enlarge:
Richard posted a picture of himself and Sarah Dunn on 28 August when she held a photoshoot for the Hobbit with several cast members. Pictures from that photoshoot will be revealed in the next few weeks.
2. Robert Delamere has tweeted another picture of Richard as John Proctor from the editing suite. I have added this picture to The Crucible gallery.
3. The next trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is expected on Thursday 6 November 2014.
4. The first dates outside of the UK and Ireland to see The Cruciblein cinemas have appeared on CinemaLive.com (via TheCrucibleOnScreen.com). Click the first link, then scroll down and click ‘Australia’ for opportunities to watch this play in New South Wales and Queensland. Update: it looks like the dates appeared prematurely as they have been removed.
5. Some new tweets from Richard today have revealed a) Sleepwalker has wrapped and b) the photo shown above was taken last night by Sarah Dunn. Ahna O’Reilly generously provided the ice-cream, yummy!
1. The Telegraph has released a brand new trailer for The Crucible today to announce the forthcoming screenings of the play in cinemas in UK and Ireland on 4th and 7th December. Book your tickets now! For more information about which cinemas will screen the play visit TheCrucibleOnScreen.com. Details of worldwide screenings will also appear on that site and will be posted in the news here too when announced.
Here is the trailer on YouTube:
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2. Apparently there’s a picture of Richard on the wall in Wellington airport! Thanks to Becca on twitter. This was taken in 2012 at The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey world premiere in Wellington, NZ. More pictures like that one in the Hobbit Premieres 2012 Candids gallery.
3. The World Premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will take place in London’s Leicester Square on Monday 1st December 2014! The announcement was made by Warner Bros. UK today via a video of five members of the cast: Sir Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Luke Evans and Orlando Bloom. Watch the video announcement here or below:
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The film is open for general release in cinemas in the UK on 12th December. The World Premiere will be live-streamed and there will be a chance to win tickets via the Warner Bros UK facebook page.
Here are a few screencaps:
1. If you subscribed to Digital Theatre’s mailing list, you will have received an email today with three behind the scenes pictures from The Crucible. One of these pictures shows Richard and Digital Theatre’s Creative Producer Fiona Lindsay, and it was also tweeted by Digital Theatre earlier today. I have added this picture to The Crucible gallery.
Richard was interviewed by Fiona Lindsay on 11 September and the interview will eventually be published on their website, but there is no information on a date for the release of the interview yet.
Sign up to Digital Theatre’s mailing list by visiting their website. Scroll halfway down the home page and enter your email address next to the picture of Richard as John Proctor.
2. A donation of £113.97 plus gift aid has been made today to the Anthony Nolan Trust, one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for using the Amazon links on the home page of this site. It is not just RA DVDs and audiobooks that will earn referral fees for charity, but ANY ITEM that Amazon sells, so please click on the Amazon logos on the home page for your shopping, or use the RAnet Amazon Stores for RA specific items. I am currently running a poll on the left hand side to find out if it is viable to start an RAnet affiliate contract with Amazon France and/or Amazon Canada – please vote if you are interested.
3. Heirs of Durin have posted a scan of the interview with Richard Armitage in the December 2014 issue of Total Film magazine. Click here to read it.
1. Elliott Lester tweeted another picture of Richard today, on set, holding a pair of glasses and pictured with actress Jessica Oyelowo. The picture has been added to the Sleepwalker gallery.
2. A picture has appeared on tumblr of Richard Armitage with The Hobbit co-writer and co-producer Philippa Boyens and Benedict Cumberbatch, presumably taken in New Zealand. I was told on twitter that the source isThe Battle of the Five Armies Visual Companion and Movie Guide.
1. I have added a Sleepwalker gallery to the site, containing all photos of Richard that have been posted on twitter from the set so far. Credit is given in the filename.
The main gallery front page has been updated to include an icon representing Sleepwalker. If you are not seeing the new gallery front page then your computer is showing you a cached picture and not the current one. Press F5 when you are looking at the gallery and it should update.
2. The new poll on the left-hand side is to ask whether there are enough visitors to this site who shop at Amazon to warrant setting up Amazon Associate status with Amazon.ca and Amazon.fr. Each contract has to be setup separately and there is a little administration involved in running the Association agreement and billing, however I am happy to do this if there is enough demand. Please vote if you would use this site to generate commission via Amazon.ca or Amazon.fr. Thank you.
The previous poll result about Richard’s effect on twitter uptake is here.
1. A new photo has emerged from the set of Sleepwalker showing Ahna O’Reilly and Richard Armitage. It was taken by a crew member and posted on Instagram and twitter by Chris Sheffield.
2. Robert Delamere has tweeted another photo of Richard as John Proctor from the Digital Theatre cut of The Crucible. A trailer is expected soon and also more information about the worldwide digital release of the play. See the news below on 6 October, 30 September, 11 September and 8 September for other photos from the production.
3. TheOneRing.net have posted 27 new photos from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Visual Companion. Update: these pictures have been removed from their website after a request from Warner Bros, but the article and comments are still there to read.
1. Lots of behind the scenes clips from The Desolation of SmaugExtended Edition are available on Warner Bros UK’s YouTube page. Visit The Hobbit Movie’s Facebook page for more exclusive clips and a brilliant new air safety video from Air New Zealand.
The digital download of the Extended Edition has been available from some iTunes stores (UK, US, Australia and more) since 21 October. The DVD/Bluray is out 3 November in the UK, 4 November in the US. Other dates vary in other countries.
2. Here’s a funny video showing Richard (Thorin) getting the key stuck in the door to Erebor, also from the Extended Edition extra features.
3. Warner Bros India tweeted a new poster for The Battle of the Five Armies yesterday: The Defining Chapter.
4. Elliott Lester tweeted a picture of Richard back on set in Los Angeles on the film Sleepwalker yesterday.
MMGN Australia have released three clips from the extra features of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition. The first two include plenty of shots of Richard.
- A sneak peek at the making of the Barrel Scene
- A sneak peek at a deleted scene featuring the Woodland Realm
- A sneak peek into the creation of Smaug
The digital extended edition will be available worldwide tomorrow. The DVD/Bluray will be released in the UK on 3rd November and in the US on 4 November.
Four pictures of Richard on the set of Sleepwalker have been posted on twitter in the last two days. I will compile all these in a gallery this weekend.
- Richard posted a photo of himself yesterday from downtown Los Angeles.
- The owner of Central City Studios in Los Angeles posted a photo of herself and Richard taken at 1am local time today.
- Elliott Lester, director of Sleepwalker posted a picture of Richard yesterday and another one today.
A new Hobbit poster featuring Thorin has been released today from the Huffington Post and now appears in the Hobbit Stills gallery. This picture was originally seen on the tapestry artwork released on 15 September. Note the release date for the UK which is now 12 December instead of 19 December (which changed a while ago but I’ve only just noticed!). Good news for UK fans!
1. The director of Sleepwalker, Elliott Lester, tweeted a picture of Richard from the last scene of filming today (early hours of Tuesday LA time).
2. Following yesterday’s announcement of the screening of The Crucible, The Stage published an article with a notable quote from Cinema Live’s chief executive Peter Skillman:
“Digital Theatre’s superbly crafted productions ensure that the cinema environment is the best place to see and hear this fantastic play, where Richard Armitage’s performance will surely go down in history as one of London theatre’s best.”
1. A new website TheCrucibleOnScreen.com has been launched today jointly presented by The Old Vic, Digital Theatre and CinemaLive. The production will be shown in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 4th and 7th December. Other worldwide showings will be announced soon. Click the links at the top of the website for more information, including ‘Find a Cinema’ to search for participating cinemas and ‘Behind the Scenes’ for pictures.
2. Richard announced the release of the production in cinemas with a brand new trailer as seen on the Telegraph’s website.
3. Natalie Gavin (Mary Warren in The Crucible) has posted a photo of herself with Richard backstage at The Old Vic on her Facebook page.
1. The director of Sleepwalker, Elliott Lester, tweeted a dark photo earlier today and after a quick edit in Photoshop it’s clear to see that it is Richard standing in front of a fireplace. Click the edited image below to enlarge.
Richard tweeted this morning with a compliment about a co-star that we didn’t previously know was also working on the film – Hayley Joel Osment.
2. Here is another Richard Armitage interview by a German movie site BZ-Berlin to promote Into the Storm, known as Storm Hunters in Germany. Thanks to Servetus for this English translation. The photo at the bottom of the online article shows Richard at the NY premiere, Monday 4th August 2014.
3. The Hobbit Movie twitter page (and many other movie twitter sites) posted the character poster for Thorin Oakenshield yesterday. I have added this to the Hobbit Stills gallery.
4. The recording of The Old Vic’s production of The Crucible will be shown in cinemas in the UK on 4th and 7th December only – check your local cinema for details. Here is the online information for Cineworld and Showcase cinemas. Hopefully news about broadcasts around the world will appear soon.
5. Richard has recorded another voiceover for Tourism New Zealand, which he tweeted about on 26 August. Watch it here on YouTube or below:
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The Drama channel, which is part of the UKTV network (channel 166 on Sky), is showing North and South episode 1 on 19th October at 4pm.
1. A synopsis of Sleepwalker was published today by The Anglophile Channel – thanks Marlise for this information. Read about Richard’s role as Dr Scott White and more here.
2. Today’s Digital Theatre mailing list email provided a new picture of Richard and the offer of a free rental from Digital Theatre’s catalogue if you sign up to their mailing list here (scroll down, it’s towards the bottom of the page). Richard also announced this offer from his twitter page.
3. Thanks to Valentina for the information that Spooks series 7 will air in Italy on 21 October. More details here.
1. Richard tweeted yesterday to confirm that he is in Los Angeles and has begun filming on Sleepwalker directed by Elliott Lester.
2. An announcement in the Swedish site Metro that Izabella Scorupco has joined the cast of Sleepwalker has provided the first bit of information about the film. Thanks to Seb for translating this so quickly for us:
“I play a psychiatrist. It’s about a girl who’s been going through a trauma and has started to sleepwalk, she has become a sleepwalker. And you’re supposed to try and figure out what’s happening. I have one of the supporting roles, it’s so much fun, Izabella Scorupco tells TT.”
3. More pictures of Richard playing John Proctor in The Crucible from the editing suite, courtesy of Robert Delamere of Digital Theatre… this picture posted on 30 September, this one on 4 October and another on 5 October.
30th September
1. The September issue of the Finnish film magazine ‘Episodi’ has a long article about Into the Storm including interviews with Richard and director Steven Quale. These scans are courtesy of Paula and the cover courtesy of another visitor to the site who mentioned that this is the first time Richard’s name has appeared on the front of a Finnish film magazine. A translation into English is here, with thanks to Merja.
2. Robert Delamere, co-founder of Digital Theatre, has posted some pictures of Richard performing in The Crucible from the editing suite. This picture from Act Three was posted on 26 September and this one from Act Two yesterday. There is no news yet when this download will be released.
3. Helen O’Hara has written an interesting article for Empire magazine (published 5 September) comparing Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage’s performances on stage in London this summer, coming to a wholly positive conclusion: “I’d love to say one was far superior, but the sad fact is that that Peter Jackson guy knew what he was doing when he cast those two.”
1. Warner Bros UK have asked for questions for Richard and Luke Evans, who they will be interviewing tomorrow about he Hobbit. The interview will be recorded and a video will appear with other Hobbit promotion later this year. Send your questions to @WarnerBrosUK using the hashtag #TheHobbitAskLuke or #TheHobbitAskRichard in the next 24 hours.
2. The October issue of the German magazine ‘Cinema’ has a 5 page article about The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Thank you to Arianna for these scans. Click to enlarge.
A translation in English is here, with thanks to Servetus.
1. Richard completed the final ADR (additional dialogue recording) for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies yesterday in New York. He tweeted a picture from the Soundtrack New York office at around 9.00pm local time and also his reaction to the footage he saw.
2. The current Australian edition of Empire magazine has an article called ‘Richard goes Into the Storm’ and seven pages on The Hobbit BOTFA for those who are interested. Thanks to tehi for letting us know.
3. Yahoo Movies have published the trailer advertising the extended edition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The trailer shows some clips from the extra 25 minutes of footage, including a scene with Thrain (Thorin’s father) and new footage of Beorn. There are also details of a twitter-related giveaway on that page. The extended edition will be available to download from 21 October and the DVD/Bluray is released on 4 November (although Amazon UK’s release date is 3 November).
4. The Career list has been updated by the addition of a new page for The Crucible, which is a compiliaton of all the news I posted on this website before and during the 12 week run of the play, with links to pictures, reviews, interviews and a summary of the whole event.
1. Richard has provided the voiceover on another Barclays Premier league advert, which I have added to the 2014 Adverts page. Thanks to Violet.
2. Kino TV’s interview with Richard and Max during the UK press junket for Into the Storm is worth a watch – especially for the comments about Sharknado. Thanks to Sahraobsessed.
3. The Old Vic are auctioning one of their huge Crucible posters signed by the whole cast on ebay. Proceeds from the sale will go towards The Old Vic Theatre Trust, a registered charity.
4. A new poll is on the left-hand side asking about whether Richard’s decision to join twitter has influenced your decision to join too. Previous poll results are here.
1. Tapestry artwork for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has been released on to various online news sites. Here is Digital Spy’s announcement with a link to enlarge the image. Similar artwork was produced for the previous two Hobbit movies, as seen in the Hobbit Stills gallery for film 1 and film 2. I have added the new tapestry artwork to the end of the gallery with two close-ups of Thorin.
2. Richard announced on twitter this evening that Into the Storm is number 1 at the box office in China!
After a momentous 12 week run, the last performance of The Crucible was held at The Old Vic last night to a packed house and with a long standing ovation from the audience. Richard marked the occasion by tweeting the following: “Good night and thank you for all your support @oldvictheatre #TheCrucible”. The video in that tweet is disabled, so he posted again with a working video from @AnglophileTV: “My thanks to @oldvictheatre @yfarber #TheCrucible @DigitalTheatre @AnglophileTV A summer to remember”.
The footage in the video took place on Tuesday 9 September, the last performance that the director Yaël Farber was able to watch as she is currently in Harvard having delivered a speech entitled ‘The Power of Truth.’ Follow her timeline on twitter for more information about the conference she is attending. Ms Farber tweeted her response to her final viewing on the morning of the 10th, here.
For those who missed previous news, the performance was filmed (hurray!) so we will all be able to enjoy a download soon. I will post news here of its availability as soon as it is announced by Digital Theatre.
For the full list of questions and answers from Richard’s twitter Q&A with @OldVicTheatre held today, plus he Crucible irector Yaël Farber’s response to one of those questions, click here. Richard also reveals what is coming up next for him…
1. As mentioned in the news on 2nd September, Richard will do a twitter Q&A tomorrow, answering your questions submitted via twitter using the hashtag #AskArmitage. The Old Vic tweeted today that it will take place at 5pm (UK time).
2. Film and TV Now have published the second part of their twitter transcription of the RA Conversation held on 2nd September. This transcript is edited, for example when talking about visiting Salem, I remember that Richard also talked about taking photographs of the cot in Rebecca Nurse’s house and other photographs. For more details from this conversation, please see my RA in Conversation page on this site.
3. Another photograph was tweeted yesterday from Richard as a farewell to the Old Vic. Here he is with stage door manager Ned Seago. Ned runs the History tours at the Old Vic, which I’m looking forward to attending in a couple of days.
4. Richard told us today that he was interviewed by Fiona Lindsay for Digital Theatre.
5. Various pictures from the filming of The Crucible have appeared on twitter from staff of Digital Theatre. This picture from @CecileBvd shows the gallery while filming was taking place. The co-founder of Digital Theatre, Tom Shaw, posted this picture of a camera and the stage. Robert Delamere, also a co-founder, shared this picture of Crucible director Yaël Farber in discussion with Adrian Schiller (Rev. Hale).
1. Into the Storm is now available to pre-order on DVD or Blu-ray. I have added it to the three RichardArmitageNet Amazon Stores (UK, US, Germany) on the home page of this site – look for the RAnet store links under each Amazon logo in the middle of the page. If you pre-order using these links, Amazon will pay this site a small commission which I will pay to charity.The DVD is expected to be released in December 2014.
The Into the Storm soundtracks are also available to buy now – click the ‘Soundtracks’ category on the right-hand side when you open the RAnet Amazon store.
2. A donation of £97.82 plus gift aid has been made today to the Young Minds Trust, one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. Thank you so much for using the links to Amazon UK, US and DE on the home page of this site.
3. Richard told us he will be posting pictures from the Old Vic as a farewell now that we are in the last week of The Crucible performances. The first picture was posted overnight, showing himself and Ola, ever-reliable and collector of presents, the friendly security chap.
4. On 28 August, an interview was published on the Italian site Best Movie after interviewing Richard about Into the Storm during the UK press junket. He talks about having to leave New York City when Hurricaine Sandy hit the city in 2012. Thanks to Claire and Alessio for this English translation.
5. 13 more pictures have been added to the Hobbit Stills gallery from page 7 row 3 onwards, with many thanks to Ingrid and the farfarawaysite.com (have a look on this site for other Hobbit/LOTR pictures and also Robin Hood). The last picture on page 8 is very large – click ‘original image’ to see the full size (click again to zoom).
1. Congratulations to Susan Day for winning the signed programme and prop from The Crucible! Thank you very much to all who entered and to those of you who left me a message, it was lovely to read them all, thank you. We had over 400 entries and I’m very grateful to the person who has donated these items.
2. The co-founder of Digital Theatre, Robert Delamere, tweeted a picture showing storyboards of The Crucible as preparation for filming the play, which will take place during tomorrow’s performance.
3. Sarah Dunn has posted a new photo of Richard on her Facebook page, which was taken in late 2013. There are three pictures in total on her website. Scroll through using the buttons underneath the first photo. Previous news articles about Sarah Dunn’s photography are in the News Archive 2014 (28th April, 2nd March, 13th February) and in the News Archive 2013 (21st December).
1. Congratulations to Felicia for winning a front row seat to see The Crucible‘s evening performance on Tuesday 9th September. This production will be filmed for Digital Theatre as those sitting in the first two rows have been contacted to ask if they would wear dark colours. Click the Digital Theatre link and sign up to their news feed (scroll down the page) for an announcement about when the film will be released.
2. The competition to win a signed copy of the programme for The Crucible signed by Richard Armitage and Samantha Colley, plus a piece of the arrest warrant for Elizabeth Proctor, will close tomorrow (Monday) at 9.00am UK time.
1. The Old Vic have made the announcement we were all hoping for – their production of The Crucible will be filmed and will be available to download and watch online worldwide. It will also be shown in selected cinemas. Online and cinema release dates will be announced later in the year. You can sign up to receive further announcements from the Digital Theatre website. Note: I have updated this link as they have added a special Crucible sign up box on the home page.
2. As soon as the filming announcement was made, Richard launched the competition he mentioned yesterday, to suggest muted clothing that the audience could wear in the first two rows. The winner will receive a signed programme. I’m guessing ideas don’t have to be particularly serious! Check out his twitter feed for the tweets that followed, as I couldn’t possibly describe the pictures – too funny!
The Old Vic haven’t announced which performance or performances will be filmed yet, stay tuned to their twitter feed and the Digital Theatre mailing list for more news. I’ll post news here too of course.
3. Film and TV Now have published an excellent article with direct quotes from Richard and also a transcript (part 1 so far) plus audio! I found this just after re-editing my RA in Conversation page this afternoon with help from some friends of the site – credited at the end. I guess this is not needed now so I will archive soon, but I am grateful for the feedback as I know many of you were desperate to know what he said. Thank you for the kind emails too.
1. HatchMansfield.com have published an article showing Richard signing a jeroboam of Champagne Taittinger. This might be the bottle that was given away in the Old Vic’s competition (news 25th July below), although the article refers to a fundraising auction next year so perhaps he signed two bottles. Here is a link to the PDF annoucement with a bigger picture.
2. Richard has tweeted that there will be an announcement from the Old Vic today and also a competition from himself. No news yet…
3. A new competition has been launched today to offer a free front row seat to see The Crucible on Tuesday 9th September, donated by a generous visitor to the site whose friend can no longer attend. Please click the link to find out how to enter and please read the terms and conditions. This competition closes on Sunday 7th September at 6.00pm (UK time). Good luck!
4. And still more competition news… the competition announced on 31 August below, to win a signed copy of the programme for The Crucible signed by Richard Armitage and Samantha Colley, plus a piece of the arrest warrant for Elizabeth Proctor is ongoing until Monday 9.00am (UK time), especially for those not able to see the play.
1. The conversation with Richard Armitage takes place at the Old Vic today. I was told at the end of the July that there were no plans to have the event filmed, but I will be attending and will write up as much as I can remember and will make every effort to post on this site this evening if I can.
Update: you can read my account of the conversation here. Lots of paraphrasing…trying to recall accurately. I tried my best! (Hopefully there will be a video and then I can delete/edit this).
I keep adding bits by the way as I remember them. I’ll probably add even more tomorrow.
2. Thanks to Iseult and Susan for allowing me to add their candid pictures from the Old Vic stage door, taken 9th July 2014. The Crucible Stage Door gallery is now in chronological order with the date on each file name – the new pictures are #33-35 in the gallery and they include some lovely pictures of signed props. Many thanks to these ladies for sharing the photos with us. Credit is given in the file name of each photo.
A tip for using my gallery: did you know that you can let a slideshow run through the whole gallery without needing to click your mouse? Every gallery on this site has a button with an arrow pointing right in the top right corner. Click this arrow to start the slideshow, or double-click it to set the number of seconds before the slide changes to another picture. Press OK and sit back and watch.
3. Richard tweeted his thanks minutes after the ‘conversation’ finished this evening. As a follow up to this event, the Old Vic are hosting a live Q&A on twitter on Friday 12th September. To submit a question, tweet it using the hashtag #AskArmitage. You won’t need to tag Richard or the Old Vic in your tweet – save characters and just use the hashtag.
Not able to see The Crucible live? Here is a competition you might like to enter…win a signed copy of the programme for The Crucible, signed by Richard Armitage and Samantha Colley, plus a piece of the arrest warrant for Elizabeth Proctor!
This competition is open to anyone in the world, and ideally, the very kind anonymous donor and I would prefer it if the winner was someone who has not been able to see the play. For those who have seen the play, please be kind and allow another person to share in the experience that we were lucky enough to witness.
One email per person please. Check you have the right answer too!
1. Richard was photographed by Sarah Dunn again yesterday for a Hobbit-related photoshoot. He posted a picture of himself and Sarah Dunn on twitter and also with Ian McKellen who was there too. See news on 14th May 2014 below for more info about previous photoshoots with Sarah Dunn.
2. Richard Hammarton, who composed the music for The Crucible, has shared another of the tracks from the production on Soundcloud. ‘Ash’ was mentioned in the news below on 15th August, and now the opening sequence of music has been added, simply called ‘The Crucible’. Click the link to listen. He is hoping to make the entire soundtrack available for download and does not intend to sell it – stated on this tweet.
3. In yesterday’s news, I linked to Michael Thomas’ Just Giving page after he completed the ice bucket challenge. Scroll down that page to see a new picture that has been added showing Michael Thomas, Richard Armitage and Michael’s stem cell donor and partner.
4. A donation of £104.04 plus gift aid has been made today to the Anthony Nolan Trust, one of the six charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. Thank you so much for using the links to Amazon UK, US and DE on the home page of this site.
5. Due to popular demand, 10 more jigsaws have been added. Sorry for the long delay.
1. One of the other cast members of The Crucible has completed the ice bucket challenge outside the stage door today, between this afternoon’s matinee performance and the evening performance. Michael Thomas, who plays Reverend Parris, accepted the challenge in aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust, which is one of the charities that Richard has recently added to his JustGiving page. It is worth reading the dedication on Michael Thomas’ Just Giving page to find out why this challenge is particularly poignant. Video of the challenge is here, thanks to Kaprekar on twitter.
2. A new Into the Storm interview with Richard and Max Deacon has appeared on the Israeli news site Ynet. Thanks to Arfan for the link.
3. Update: apologies, the new pictures have been removed from their blog. The Anglophile Channel have uncovered some pictures from the Jay Brooks photoshoot for The Crucible showing Richard as John Proctor. The ‘tonight’ in the title of the blog refers to Tuesday night’s performance, but please note that the phone lines at the Old Vic are no longer open for returns. Return tickets might be available if bought in person on the day of the performance. This information provided by the Old Vic twitter page.
4. In this clip on Antena3.com Richard speaks a little Spanish as he introduces the previously mentioned Into the Storm featurette (news 29th July).
Richard has added the two charities he mentioned during the Ice Bucket Challenge to his JustGiving page, making that 6 charities in total. Here is a link to one of the tweets he sent this afternoon (UK time). Already the donations have been coming in thick and fast – you are all so incredibly generous! I have added links to each of the 6 pages on the home page under the Amazon logos.
If you are not on twitter, you can still read his twitter feed. It’s very entertaining!
1. Last night outside the stage door of the Old Vic, Richard accepted the Ice Bucket challenge for ALSA.org but also for AnthonyNolan.org and YoungMinds.org.uk. Here is the official video from The Anglophile Channel who nominated him. Two other videos from different angles are here and here.
2. In this article by Tim Morehouse on the Huffington Post site, Richard gives his reasons for joining twitter.
Richard has joined twitter! Happy Birthday Richard!
A reminder that today is the last day to leave a birthday message for Richard as the page will close for new comments at 9pm tonight (UK time). Scroll down the page to leave a message in the comments box. Thank you for all your lovely messages, I will pass them on.
1. Digitial Spy’s Into the Storm interview with Richard and Max in London asks a great question at the start about which Hobbit stars Richard would want to take into a storm. At the end of the interview Richard teases that he has a cameo role in a soon to be released film…is that cameo for a film based on a popular British TV series that has currently been filming in London – thoughts?
For info, comments on this site are most commonly left on the home page (see the ‘Write Comment’ link just above the ‘News’ heading) as it is easy to reply to other’s comments there, or you can leave messages in the guestbook if you wish. Thanks.
2. RTE’s interview from the same UK press junket is good fun, Max suggesting that he had a major influence over Richard’s performance as John Proctor.
3. The Old Vic have confirmed they will ship a Crucible poster and programme to the US for £16.50 plus postage and packing. Please email [email protected] for more information.
4. To win free tickets to see Into the Storm in Cork, Ireland tomorrow night, plus a backpack and other goodies, please email me at [email protected]. The first reply will win. I will update this news item as soon as someone claims the tickets.
Screencaps from the Andrew Marr interview (20th July) and the Canada AM interview (1st August) have been added to the Interviews gallery. This page is in chronological order.
1. More candid pictures have been added to The Crucible Stage Door gallery from Armitagina, Let, Lisa and @Haldirs_Bow from twitter. Many thanks to these ladies for sharing the photos with us. Credit is given in the file name of each photo.
2. Geek Town interviewed Richard and Max in London – nothing new in this video interview, but it is a nice interview.
1. The Hindu have posted an excellent new interview with Richard that has taken place recently, judging by the comment that after the interview he was about to leave to do another performance of The Crucible. There is nothing new in the interview regarding promotion for Into the Storm, but lots to think about regarding future roles: “I feel changed by this role, and it’ll be interesting to see how my work changes after” and the comment at the end of the article: ‘Similarly, I speculate, there must be a once-in-a-lifetime role his heart desires. “Ye-es, there is,” he replies after a pause, “and I may have just auditioned for it.”’
2. In Richard and Max’s recent British press junket, they were also interviewed by HeyUGuys. This is a good fun interview where Richard coins the phrase ‘found footish’ and there’s a joke about a sequel in London involving a red telephone box.
3. Another amusing interview from the same press junket, with Yahoo Movies UK & Ireland.
4. Conn Jackson interviewed Richard from London at the same time as several other interviews (including the Canada AM interview, news below 1st Aug, #1). Again Richard talks about acting with a wind machine, working with green screen and his character’s story, and a different question on what he has learned in the last couple of years regarding his career (i.e. the art of Zen)!
5. According to Jason Chamberlain at 411mania.com, Richard is reason number 8 to love the Hobbit movies: “an Englishman who could become a leading man in his own right after these films are done. His performance as the honorable yet prideful Thorin has been very well crafted. He has shown Thorin’s longing for his homeland and how it ever so gradually becomes a lust for power and wealth of his own.”
6. High quality promotional pictures from Warner Bros have been sent to this site and added to the Into the Storm gallery. The four images on this page of the gallery are all new. Click on the thumbnails to view and then click ‘original image’ to see the full HQ size.
7. The composer of the music for The Crucible, Richard Hammarton, has shared one of the tracks from the production on Soundcloud. The title ‘Ash’ plays at the start of the third act when black ash was falling on to the stage. The music will give you an impression of the atmosphere of the production for those who are not able to see it, and remind others of the ominous and eerie tone that the music evoked. Those violin notes were repeated often throughout the play.
8. PCM World interviewed Richard about Into the Storm when he was in NYC on the 4th August. There are some different answers to the usual questions about this film so it is worth a read. Apparently Richard decided to make sure Gary ran differently from the way Richard usually runs, and he enjoyed making sure the director didn’t stay warm and dry at the end of a day’s shooting!
1. The Weather Channel interviewed Richard Armitage and Sarah Waynes Callies on the day of the world premiere in New York. Watch the clip on Wake up with Al.
2. Crucible Stage Door photos have been added to the Candids gallery showing pictures of Richard meeting theatre-goers after the show. Many thanks to Aprilsviolet, Claudia, JulieS and Thoriness for donating these pictures. Click ‘original image’ to see the full size.
9th August
1. A reminder that a competition to win a ticket to see The Crucible on Friday 12 September has been launched and will close next Saturday at 9am (UK time). I will be posting the ticket to the winner from my home in the UK, so if you enter the competition please consider that it must arrive to you in time and if you live overseas it might be beneficial to provide me with a UK address. Good luck!
2. Urblife.com’s interview with Richard talking about Into the Storm and commenting on the US audience reaction: “I live here now and I’d like to work here more. It’s just another area to explore. I love the culture here; I love the differences between all of the states. I think that’s something to be nurtured.”
3. There are some superb high quality photographs on the Monsters and Critics site showing Richard and other cast members at the Into the Storm world premiere. Richard appears on pages 1, 2, 9, 14, 15 and 16. Thanks to @Kaprekar30 and @sahraobsessed on twitter.
4. The Movie Bit are offering preview tickets for The Gate, in Cork, Ireland for 19th August to see Into the Storm. Click here to enter. Thanks to sahraobsessed.
1. A visitor to this site can no longer attend the performance of The Crucible at 7.30pm on Friday 12 September and has generously donated her ticket, saying “I don’t want anything for it, just the knowledge that someone will enjoy and benefit from it and get the chance to see Richard in the flesh!” So…I have set-up a giveaway competition. Enter before Saturday 16th August 9am (UK time), make sure you will be able to pay your travel costs and attend on that evening, and also that the ticket will arrive in time (in case I have to post it overseas) and good luck!
2. Here are some more videos from the Into the Storm black carpet:
- Brad Blanks interviews Richard but talks only about Thorin in The Hobbit, hairy feet and getting into nightclubs. This is a funny interview!
- Beyond the Trailer interviewed Richard at the start and also at 3:43, and also interviewed Matt Walsh, Sarah Wayne Callies, Ken Cole (storm chaser, consultant for the film) and Nathan Kress.
3. This interview by Kristen of The Daily Buzz took place on Friday 1st August in London, the same time as the Canada AM interview (news below 1st Aug, #1) and The Morning Show’s interview (news below 5th Aug, #7).
4. Richard and Sarah Wayne Callies talked to Yahoo Canada on Monday 4th, the day of the world premiere in New York. Thanks to cassiopeia2006 for uploading to YouTube.
5. Into the Storm reviews. I won’t be posting a long list of reviews for this film because there are dozens of them and it’s fair to say the reviews do not make for easy reading. (If a review appears that is quite extraordinary it might get a mention). Here’s two of the more positive from the bunch:
- The LA Times gives a fair response: “Into the Storm knows you bought your ticket for the tornadoes, not the dramatics, and acts accordingly.”
- The New York Post‘s typical easy-read and not-so-high-brow review: “Into the Storm’ delivers where it counts, though — it moves like lightning, with loads of well-staged disaster footage and a pulse-pounding climax.”
6. Abby’s interviews with other cast and crew interviews at the Into the Storm world premiere are available now on YouTube. Some fabulous funny clips from the lady herself too. Enjoy!
7. Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies and Steven Quale appeared on the SiriusXM radio station on Monday 4th August. Listen to the audio. Sarah posted this picture on her Instagram during the recording and the Getty site have 6 pictures from the SiriusXM studio.
7th August
1. Photographer Johan Persson has published a dramatic photograph of Richard as John Proctor on his website. I have added this to The Crucible gallery. Thanks to @EniKoni on twitter for finding this.
2. Marlise Boland of The Anglophile Channel asked other cast members and the producer Todd Garner what it was like working with Richard. The answers are in this video. I really like Nathan Kress’ response to this and our Abby appears at the end.
3. The Richard Armitage US Facebook page were also represented at the Into the Storm premiere. Their first video showing other cast members is here.
4. Watch this video clip from Fox News for their report from the Into the Storm black carpet.
5. The result of the Old Vic’s competition to win a signed bottle of champagne has been announced. This competition was first mentioned in the news below on 25th July. Congratulations to Jamie!
6. “This movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s a very good thing”. Read Abby’s review of Into the Storm for RichardArmitageNet.
1. Well Abby did an incredible job of behalf of my site in the press tent at the Into the Storm premiere, sending me tons of raw video footage that I need to edit together including a lovely funny interview with Richard and interviews with other cast and crew members.
Update: Here is our interview with Richard at the Into the Storm premiere last night! Thank you to Abby and Rosalie for doing a fantastic job. Another video will be posted soon, showing interviews with the rest of the cast and other special clips courtesy of Abby and Rosalie. There are lots of funny clips that I can’t wait to share with you – just a bit of editing to do first!
2. Here is a picture that Todd Garner tweeted showing himself and a very smiley Richard (link to Kelly’s twitter as Todd’s original tweet to us all couldn’t be accessed by some).
3. Stylist Ilaria Urbinati tweeted this and this to show Richard’s outfits today (click the instagram links). Original picture credit must go to @marieastra8 – her tweet here.
4. Two pages of press pictures are on the Getty site from last night’s Into the Storm New York premiere.
5. BigNewsNetwork.com have posted an interview that took place yesterday with Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies and Steven Quale. Richard says there was more time to rehearse than you might normally expect when filming a movie:
“because we had a lot of long takes in the film, we spent a lot more time rehearsing scenes before we actually starting shooting them. And that was when we had this great collaborative effort with everybody, including the camera operator, myself, the actors and we really got a sense of what felt real for the characters “
6. Marlise Boland’s interview with Richard at the premiere is here on YouTube.
7. Updated: Richard appeared on The Morning Show on Global News in Canada today. Watch the video here. Thanks to @LadyCharlotte79 on twitter.
8. This interview in The Columbus Dispatch took place in London during the recent Into the Storm press junket. There is also a brief comment about The Hobbit at the end.
9. A press release received from Warner Bros today has announced the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug extended edition on Bluray and DVD, which will be released on 3rd November with a digital HD release in late October. The extended edition features 25 minutes of extra footage and more than 9 hours of new special features, including:
- Commentary with Peter Jackson, Director/Producer/Screenwriter and Philippa Boyens, Co-Producer/Screenwriter
- The Appendices – The Appendices Parts IX and X showcase an immersive multi-part history of the filming of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, covering pre-production in the various departments of the film in the months leading up to the start of principal photography, training, the work done on set and in the world of its digital effects.
- New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth – Part 2
The Extended Edition is already available to pre-order from Amazon, so I will add it to the RAnet Amazon stores later today. Here is a packshot image, click to enlarge:
10. Here is a new clip from The Desolation of Smaug from the extended edition. I’m glad this has been included as I remember a very similar scene in the book!
11. Julie from RichardArmitageCentral was standing next to our Abby in the press tent at the Into the Storm premiere last night. Here is her video interview with Richard.
12. ScreenCrush have published their interview with Richard about Into the Storm. This is the first interview where Richard discusses his character name change, which appears to have happened without his knowledge as we suspected! There is also discussion of The Hobbit and his role in Star Wars. The picture used has appeared online a few times as an example of Richard’s appearance in the film, although I stubbornly maintain it is not him and feel that these pictures actually show him (well definitely the first one anyway – spot the guy in the yellow hat).
13. Warner Bros France interview with Richard about Into the Storm, talking about how shooting this film was different from any previous experience. English translation here with thanks to Servetus.
1. This evening at the AMC Lincoln Square, NYC, the world premiere of Into the Storm is taking place. All of the main cast members including Richard will be there as well as the director Steven Quale and producer Todd Garner. I’m pleased to say that I also have a representative there on behalf of this website and with any luck there will be photos and video from the event posted on the site tomorrow.
2. Richard and Sarah Wayne Callies appeared on EITM (Elliot in the Morning) today, a radio show on WWDC-FM in Washington, D.C.and on WRXL in Richmond, Virginia. Watch the video announcement. RichardArmitageCentral have kindly recorded the interview as it could only be heard in the US – listen here.
3. A new interview with Richard about Into the Storm has been published in the Manila Bulletin. There are lots of thoughtful responses about this genre of film and what audiences might take away from watching it:
‘In the end, he hopes that “audiences come away with a certain elevated heart rate” after watching the movie, adding that some might simply “enjoy a good disaster movie” while others might give more thought to social media or climate change. “It’s not a film that’s designed to do that but it would be perfect if it did.”’
4. Trailer Addict have posted an interview recorded with Richard Armitage and Max Deacon in London on 21st July. There are a few spoilers in this interview.
1. Richard is due to appear on Canadian TV again in the next few days, although we don’t know exactly which day yet. The Morning Show have posted this video with the announcement.
2. This short interview by AMHQ on The Weather Channel with Richard obviously took place on Friday 1st in London at the same time as the Canada AM interview. Thanks to sahraobsessed. Also here on YouTube.
1. CTV Canada AM interviewed Richard at 8.45am Eastern time today (1.45pm in the UK). You can watch the interview online here.
2. The birthday messages page is now open if you would like to leave a message for Richard’s birthday on 22nd August 2014. Scroll down the page to leave a message. Please note this page will be closed for new messages at 9pm (UK) on Tuesday 19th August. As with previous years, these messages will be forwarded to Richard’s agent.
1. It has been announced that Richard will be in conversation on The Old Vic stage at 5pm on Tuesday 2nd September to talk about his career and his current role as John Proctor. Tickets are not yet available and there will be priority booking for patrons and friends of the theatre. See the Old Vic’s website for further information.
2. CTV Canada AM have tweeted that Richard will be appearing on their show tomorrow morning to promote Into the Storm. No exact time has been given yet.
1. This Trailer Addict interview with Richard about Into the Storm must have taken place during shooting in 2012 judging by the clothes and haircut, and there are lots of interesting insights into the character of Gary (the film is edited as the character was originally Gary Morris, but is now Gary Fuller), and the filming process.
2. A four minute featurette about Into the Storm has been posted on YouTube, showing lots of footage from the film including scenes not released previously, and plenty of behind the scenes material too. Do not watch if you are avoiding spoilers as there is a lot of new footage here.
3. B-roll footage from Into the Storm has been posted by ScreenSlam. Part 1 here and part 2 here (some deep water for Richard at 5mins).
4. Into the Storm world premiere details are as follows: Monday 4th August at the AMC Lincoln Square, New York City. The film starts at 7pm and Richard is confirmed as attending along with Sarah Wayne Callies, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, Jeremy Sumpter, several other cast members, producer Todd Garner and director Steven Quale.
Also I can confirm that there are no plans for a UK premiere at present.
1. The German magazine Cinema August 2014 issue includes an article about filming Into the Storm and shows pictures of the green screen work featuring Richard and the rest of the cast. Click the images below to enlarge. An English translation is here thanks to Servetus. Many thanks to Claudia for the scans.
2. The Hobbit teaser trailer is here!
3. Screencaps from the teaser trailer and the new Hobbit poster featuring Martin Freeman as Bilbo are below – click to enlarge.
1. A donation of £228.93 plus gift aid has been made today to Childline, one of the four charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. Another fantastic donation to charity thanks to you using the Amazon logos on my home page – thank you!
2. Lots of new pictures of Richard and the cast of Into the Storm have been posted on Movienewsplus.com. Click ‘Images’ to see them all. The new pictures have been added to the Into the Storm gallery.
1. The Old Vic have launched a competition for UK residents only, announced on twitter and facebook. They have invented a champagne cocktail with a raspberry and lemon twist (picture) and are looking for a Crucible themed name for it. The prize is a bottle of Taittinger champagne signed by Richard Armitage. To enter, email the cocktail name to [email protected] with a suggested name and Richard will pick the winner! Enter before 6pm (UK) on 1st August 2014. Terms and Conditions here.
2. Yesterday at Nerd HQ in San Diego the cast of Into the Storm (except Richard) attended a special panel, answering questions from members of the public who had seen the film the night before. You can watch the hour long panel in full on YouTube (it starts at 2:56). There are comments about Richard’s smelly wet suit by Sarah Wayne Callies 29:35 and lots of lovely comments about working with Richard at 42:35.
1. Soundtrack details for Into the Storm have been posted on filmmusicreporter.com. The soundtrack is currently available to pre-order from Amazon. Please use the Amazon links on the home page to order, as that will raise commission for charity. Thanks to sahraobsessed for the info.
2. On Monday, Richard and his co-star on Into the Storm Max Deacon, were interviewed in London by several journalists to promote the film. The first of these interviews has appeared on a Chinese site letv.com. It is a very brief series of clips of the pair. Thanks to @gomgomi03 on twitter. I had a few difficulties playing the clip on my PC and on my phone, but I found that if you refresh the page (yes you have to watch another ad) it will eventually play.
1. The Huffington Post have provided an exclusive, very exciting 1m 33s clip from Into the Storm. Watch it here.
2. More TV Spots for Into the Storm can be seen on YouTube from Movie Madness Trailers. Numbers 8 and 9 are particularly good for clips of Richard.
3. This Adam Brown interview took place on 12 July at London Film and Comic Con, Earls Court. It’s an interesting interview about working on The Hobbit but 4 minutes in he is extremely complimentary about Richard. Thanks to Aneta for the link.
1. Nathan Kress, who plays the youngest son of Gary (Richard) in Into the Storm, tweeted a new picture of himself and Richard yesterday. I have added this picture to the Into the Storm gallery, along with 3 large HD posters for the film received by the UK publicists. Click ‘original image’ to see the full size.
2. The UK press release confirms that the UK release date of Into the Storm has been brought forward two days to 20 August. I have also heard from two people on twitter who have watched advanced screenings of the film and they both say that Richard’s character is now called Gary Fuller, not Gary Morris.
1. Richard was on Andrew Marr’s show this morning talking about The Crucible, Spooks and The Hobbit. I have uploaded the interview to YouTube and will post screencaps later.
2. Thanks to Aprilsviolet for this scan of Time Out London magazine dated 8-14 July 2014 with their 5 star review of The Crucible. Click the image to enlarge. The small image at the top has been cropped from the Contents page.
3. There is a new poll on the site asking if you will go and see Into the Storm when it is released in the cinema/movie theater. Please vote on the left-hand side. Previous poll results are here.
4. Thank you to Jessie for sharing this signature banner for The Crucible. These signatures are available for personal use on forums if you include credit to the person who created it. If you would like me to share your banners or wallpapers please email me (Ali) at the address above, thanks.
5. The premiere of Into the Storm will be held at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square in New York City on Monday 4th August 2014. Richard will be attending as there is no Crucible performance on that day and Whats Up Hollywood have confirmed the line up for the evening and the venue. Here is a competition open to Canadians to win 2 tickets. This competition on ZayZay.com is for US residents only.
1. Richard will be on Andrew Marr’s show on BBC1 this Sunday from 9.00 – 10.00. Here is the Radio Times programme information. I will record this and upload shortly afterwards. [See news 20th July above for a link.]
2. The Wall Street Journal have reviewed The Crucible: Morality Lessons from London.
“If I had to rate Yaël Farber’s new staging at the Old Vic of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” I’d agree with my critical colleagues who awarded it the full 5 stars. Staged in the round, Soutra Gilmour’s simple period costumes and plain sets focus concentration on the dialogue and the actors’ movements…The cast includes a big-deal movie star, Richard Armitage, but Ms. Farber has made an ensemble piece, united largely by the stylized movement direction of Imogen Knight.”
1. According to n3rdabl3.co.uk, the UK release date for Into the Storm has been brought forward two days to 20 August 2014. We are still waiting for further confirmation.
2. Here is a scan of the Manchester Evening News article that was posted in the news below on 14th July. Click to enlarge. Many thanks to Smitkit.
1. Richard was on Steve Wright’s show on BBC Radio 2 this afternoon talking about The Crucible and Into the Storm. I have uploaded today’s radio interview and will upload any other video or audio interviews that may appear for this production to this page: Crucible Video/Audio Interviews.
You will still be able to listen to today’s broadcast from the BBC Radio 2 site for the next 7 days: link here.
2. The BBC posted a photograph of Richard at the BBC Radio 2 studio in London on their website today. You will find that photo and others showing appearances relating to The Crucible in the Crucible gallery. Fan photographs taken by the stage door outside The Old Vic and donated to this site will soon appear in the Candids gallery.
3. Photographer Dan Burn-Forti has posted 3 photographs on his tumblr account that were apparently for the Sunday Telegraph. An interview and picture from the shoot appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 25 June (also posted in the news below), so am not sure if another interview will appear in the Sunday Telegraph soon, or whether the Daily Telegraph posted the pictures instead.
1. Richard appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning and it has been kindly recorded and uploaded by cassiopeia2006: watch it on YouTube. There is promotional footage from The Crucible so it’s well worth a watch!
2. Andy Serkis also appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning, which is held at the MediaCityUK studio in Salford. The Manchester Evening News has a report and pictures of Richard and Andy outside the studio. Also Andy Serkis tweeted this picture of himself and Richard earlier today.
3. There is an incredible review of Richard’s performance in Londonist: Fighting The Darkness In The Crucible today.
“Richard Armitage’s flawless portrayal of John Proctor will stay with you for a lifetime. His version of the deeply troubled anti-hero may well rocket John Proctor into your mind as one of the greatest on-stage characters of modern times.”
Note: some of you may notice an Independent newspaper review has appeared online today, but it is the same one that I posted below on 4th July. The review has been edited but essentially re-published.
More reviews of The Crucible:
1. This scan is from the print edition of Friday’s Daily Express and is an edited version of the review posted first in yesterday’s news. Thanks to Jen. 5/5 stars.
2. The Sunday Express has also posted a review. Click to enlarge. Many thanks to Smitkit. Also online here. 4/5 stars.
“Armitage is the rock-like centre of Yaël Farber’s revelatory production. The Crucible…can seem both worthy and wordy in performance but by taking the play at a thrillingly slow pace and remaining utterly faithful to Miller’s text, Farber restores its power both to scare and to shock.”
3. The Observer, The Crucible review – an engrossing, fiery evening. Susannah Clapp: 4/5 stars. (The Observer is a Sunday newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group, which is why the link opens the Guardian website).
“Richard Armitage, another Hobbit escapee, is the man agonised by the knowledge of his infidelity to his wife and now trying to be faithful to his friends. He is, though sometimes hoarse, impressive both when forceful and when nearly broken.”
4. The Mail on Sunday, The Crucible, Old Vic, London. 5/5 stars. Thanks to LadyT.
“Richard Armitage…is a blazing John, tormented and guilt-racked. The tension between him and his wife is electric: Anna Madeley’s Elizabeth is miserably aware of the ‘wintry’ house she kept that helped drive him away.”
Three new reviews of The Crucible have been published in the last few days. Two are 5 star reviews, the New York Times review is unrated but is positively glowing: “Ms. Farber makes the most convincing case that I’ve encountered for the greatness of this 1953 drama”.
The Express, The Crucible review: Chilling reminder of hysteria, mass murder and fantastic theatre
“Armitage commands the stage without overwhelming everyone else. He combines moral and physical strength with human weakness in a way that is entirely credible. As his betrayed but fatally loyal wife, Elizabeth, Anna Madeley is equally impressive and their ultimate reconciliation is profoundly affecting.”
City AM, Review: The Crucible at the Old Vic
“The performances are strongly physical: as John Proctor, Richard Armitage propels the production forward with a mighty, powerful goodness, and in their phony demonic throes the accusing girls writhe and contort their bodies into terrible shapes.”
New York Times, The Body of Salem, Its Nerves Frayed
“Mr. Armitage…gives us a John who is first and foremost a physical being, a farmer who has spent most of his life fighting against privation. His rumbling voice comes from his viscera, and he stands like a man who feels undressed without his plow…Mr. Armitage gives palpable, sinewy force to John’s struggle, making the moral instinct feel primal, something that’s genetically coded but hard to bring into dominance.”
EniKoni on twitter has found a treat today: this short video clip filmed as part of the Esquire photoshoot last year. The Esquire interview can be found on the Interviews page. Scroll down to November 2013.
1. A photoshoot of Richard taken by Francesco Guidicini on behalf of the Sunday Times has appeared on ProfilebyNews.com. This photoshoot accompanied the interview published in the news 6th July below. There are twelve photos in total and the photoshoot took place on 23 June according to the details on the site. Another link to more of the photoshoot can be found on NewsSyndication.com. There are 49 photos in total. Thank you to @EniKoni on twitter for the links.
2. Marlise from The Anglophile Channel has uploaded this video showing her before and after watching The Crucible and there is some footage of Richard making his way down the line of fans, as he has done every evening since the play opened.
Richard talks about being attracted to the story of his character in Into the Storm rather than the storm itself, according to an interview with Total Film magazine which is quoted on TV3.ie:
“This is possibly not the kind of movie I would have run towards. The storm aspect of it, I swept aside and looked at the bones of the story: a single father, who is father and mother to two boys, and a family that’s already breaking up, and how that’s [exacerbated] by this single day. That was interesting enough.”
Barbara has provided the original source of the inteview mentioned above, in the August 2014 issue of Total Filmmagazine. Many thanks Barbara! Click to enlarge and click again to zoom.
1. The Sunday Times has printed an interview with Richard by Tanya Gold, which took place in his dressing room at The Old Vic: “Acting is one thing,” he says, “Being an actor is another.”
Here is a scan, click to enlarge and then click again to zoom in.
2. Fraser Kelly, eponymous star of Urban and the Shed Crew watched The Crucible last night in London with his mother, who tweeted a picture of them all after the show with Richard. Looks like they had a fantastic night! Fraser has tweeted another picture here.
3. The first TV spot for Into the Storm has appeared in the US and thanks to @NBNathanKress we can see it here, featuring new footage from the movie.
4. More pictures from the The Crucible after show party have appeared on photographer Robert Zajaczkowski’s Facebook page, which includes a lovely photo of a smiling Richard. Thanks sahRAobsessed for the link.
5. A donation of £273.76 plus gift aid has been made today to Barnardo’s, one of the four charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here. This means we have broken £5000 since this website became an Amazon Associate in February 2012. An amazing result, thank you all so much!
6. Following on from the news above (#3), Movie Madness Trailers on YouTube have posted three TV spots for Into the Storm: TV spot 1, TV spot 2, TV spot 3. Number 2 is the same as the one posted above. Thanks to @RCNY13 for the notification.
1. Richard’s agent, United Agents, have posted an article on their website celebrating The Crucible’s five star reviews. Read it here.
2. More reviews have appeared online for The Crucible:
What’s On Stage, The Crucible, Old Vic. 3/5 stars.
“Abigail’s got her teeth into the honest farmer John Proctor, played with gallant good looks and some physical power by Richard Armitage. Armitage and Madeley play this scene [at the Proctor’s kitchen table] beautifully, and Tim Lutkin’s lighting sculpts it in startling silhouette…” and from that point the reviewer and I disagree 😉
The Stage, The Crucible. 4/5 stars.
“Farber brings out its continued relevance with gutsy vigour, and Richard Armitage (a theatre actor before Hobbit fame) relishes mining the depths of John Proctor…The final reconciliation of the Proctors is unforgettable.”
Theatrecat, The Crucible – Old Vic, SE1. The gates of hell creak open. 5/5 stars.
“It will haunt the memory for months, this profound, dark-lit, smoke-scented deep-booming production of Arthur Miller’s play…the pair’s progress from delicate marital adjustment to terror, are given breathless intensity by Armitage and a fine-drawn Anna Madeley as his wife…the final admission of Proctor that he finds in himself “a shred of goodness. Not enough to weave a banner with”. But do weave one for this unstinting, profound production. It does honour both to Miller and to the Old Vic.”
3. The Stage have published an interesting article in the wake of yesterday’s positive reviews. Read it here.
“An even bigger roar of critical approval greeted last night’s opening of The Crucible, with five-star raves from the Telegraph, Times and Time Out. Yes, it’s very good – but five stars suggests the truly exceptional.”
4. Peter Jackson has posted on Facebook that a teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is imminent.
1. Richard and the cast of The Crucible attended an after show party at The Savoy Hotel, London after last night’s press night. Photos from the event are on the Rex Features site, AP Images and Getty Images.
2. Press reviews for The Crucible have been flooding in today, after last night’s press night and the verdict is unanimously outstanding. The only slightly critical newspaper is not worth discussing since it is known for its inaccuracies 😉
Here is a summary with notable quotes about the play and Richard’s performance.
The Times, The Crucible at the Old Vic, SE1. 5/5 stars. This article is behind a paywall, so thank you to @rashisama1 for posting the full article on tumblr.
“I’ve seen Arthur Miller’s great play many times before, but it has never mesmerised and moved me quite like Yaël Farber’s revival manages to do here…Armitage leads with passion as Proctor: it’s big acting, but Farber gives him the context for it. His scenes with his wife (Anna Madeley) have a repressed passion whose eventual release is overwhelming.”
Financial Times, The Crucible, Old Vic, London – Review. 4/5 stars.
“Richard Armitage’s Proctor is a gruff, bearlike individual, tormented by his slip from grace and movingly matched by Anna Madeley as his wife, frozen in hurt. Their personal journey towards mutual forgiveness pulls against the gathering darkness elsewhere and proves very moving here.”
The Telegraph, The Crucible, Old Vic, review: ‘The intensity of a thriller’. 5/5 stars.
“In her thrilling production at the Old Vic, which lasts three and a half hours but never loosens its dramatic grip, the South African director Yaël Farber doesn’t labour the point but trusts the audience to make its own connections with our own troubled times…Richard Armitage, best known for TV dramas and The Hobbit movies, proves an exhilarating stage actor, with blazing eyes and a righteous fury about him, as well as manifest decency. His deep guilt about his brief affair with Abigail, who has become his nemesis, is powerfully caught. And his final reconciliation with his wife, beautifully played by Anna Madeley, who admits her own part in their troubles, proves extraordinarily intimate and moving.”
The Guardian, The Crucible review – full of raw, visceral power. 5/5 stars.
“the South African Yaël Farber, director of an acclaimed Mies Julie, has come up with an extraordinary production that preserves the integrity of Miller’s language while investing the action with a raw, visceral power I’ve never witnessed…Richard Armitage, though sounding a bit vocally strained, admirably conveys Proctor’s mix of muscularity and guilt and Anna Madeley is excellent as his quietly accusatory wife.”
Official London Theatre, The Crucible.
“Proctor is an imposing, prowling, growling figure with more rough edges than an Elizabethan neck-piece maker. Paradoxically brimming with pride and power while haunted by shame and remorse, he is constantly balancing on a tipping point, ready to explode with fury or collapse under the pressure of his principles…Armitage proves a colossal presence at the heart of a chillingly atmospheric revival of Miller’s classic.”
TheArtsDesk.com,The Crucible, Old Vic.5/5 stars.
“Armitage makes a fine job of John Proctor – a roaring, contrarian beast of a man who shouts because he cannot be heard, but it’s Madeley who moves.”
Digital Spy, Richard Armitage is stunning in terrifying adaptation of The Crucible: Review. 4/5 stars.
“Physically, John is an imposing presence, but he is gradually chipped away at and broken down. Armitage makes him appear constantly exhausted by the accusations thrown at him and the people around him, even before he gets dragged into the trials. Eventually his body is weakened too, and when John makes a reappearance in The Crucible‘s dying moments, the change is striking. It’s a triumph in make-up, costume and performance on Armitage’s part that the sight of him makes you feel pained…His last stand is incredibly rousing, and cements just how good Armitage is at appearing inwardly bold when hunched or brittle when tall.”
London Evening Standard, The Crucible, Old Vic – theatre review: ‘At first Richard Armitage smoulders, later he blazes’. 5/5 stars.
“This revival of Arthur Miller’s great play, by South African director Yaël Farber, is astonishing. The production has a bold simplicity yet grips like the most complex thriller…Armitage at first smoulders, all dark looks and muscular seriousness. Later he blazes, raging against the paranoid insanity that engulfs him — and also against his own fallibility. Meanwhile Madeley brings a tense restraint to Elizabeth, capturing her wounded sense of virtue. Their intimate moments wrench the heart.”
The Evening Standard has also published an interview with Richard today. Online version: Theatre is still my first love, says Richard Armitage.
“John Proctor was a role he had ‘coveted’ since studying at Lamda, and working with director Yaël Farber at the Old Vic was ‘exciting’. ‘Every night I get that rush of nervous excitement. I can’t wait to speak that incredible text,’ he said.”
Here is a scan from the print edition, showing the review and the interview. Click to enlarge.
The Independent, The Crucible, Old Vic, review: ‘Unmissable’. 5/5 stars.
“Yael Farber’s mesmerising production of Arthur Miller’s great play unfolds with the sick dread of a horrible dream from which you are powerless to awake…Richard Armitage brings a powerfully imposing presence and a ferociously passionate contrarian spirit to this farmer who is haunted with guilt about his marital infidelity…”
1. New audio clips from The Crucible. Yesterday, director Yael Farber was interviewed by Front Row on BBC Radio 4 and Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3. The clips are still available to listen if you follow the links, but will probably be removed after a week. The interviews included three extracts from the play, although it doesn’t sound like they were recorded on stage, but perhaps in a studio. They feature Richard Armitage as John Proctor and Anna Madeley, who plays John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. I have extracted the three clips and uploaded them to the Sounds page, where you can listen or download.
2. The BBC News site has a fairly long interview with Richard, who talks about visited Salem, how the play is a ‘full body experience’ and how much he has missed the stage.
3. In this short article on the Breathcast site, Richard comments on the latest Hobbit film – the trailer is due to be released imminently. Thanks to Genie for the link. Note: there are lots of video advertisements on that page that play automatically.
Jill Lawless’ article for the Associated Press has been published today on many online sites including the New York Times and the Washington Times. I like this link to Yahoo News as you can open a gallery of large pictures to show Richard posing in the seats at the Old Vic theatre and also with director Yael Farber. This link to AP images shows the full set of photographs. The interview reveals what Richard will do in the name of research!
Several interviews from the set of Into the Storm have been released today but they all appear to come from the same round table interview. The most comprehensive is the article from Collider, though there are many spoilers in this article about the film, more than have been released previously. (Worchester = Leicester by the way).
1. More publicity photographs have been posted online from the set of The Crucibleby Geraint Lewis. These pictures are superb quality and you can click each one to enlarge. It’s bringing it all back to me! Spoiler warning if you have yet to see the play and don’t want to see costumes, etc!
2. The Independent have published a fascinating article with Crucible director Yael Farber, accompanied by a wonderful picture of Richard as Proctor. I have added it to the Crucible gallery.
Rex Features have published pictures from The Crucible that were taken on 26 June, without an audience: 1st link, 2nd link. Thanks to @ForoRArmitage. Spoiler warning if you have yet to see the play and don’t want to see costumes, etc!
I went to the matinee of The Crucible today with friends and had a wonderful time. Here is a picture of a prop which was grabbed by John Proctor, torn and discarded (thanks to Hedgeypig for snaffling it for me). Click to enlarge.
The first full length trailer for Into the Storm was released at 10am PST, 6pm UK time today. Here it is, buckle up!
1. A new interview with Richard has appeared in the British newspaper,The Telegraph, accompanied by two new photographs taken especially for the interview.
2. Warner Bros have posted a short clip on Instagram from Into the Storm ahead of a new trailer which will appear online tomorrow at 10.00am Pacific Standard Time. Richard’s voice is right at the start.
Last night was opening preview night for The Crucible at The Old Vic, and judging by comments left on twitter, the performance was wonderful: ‘probably the best stage show I’ve ever witnessed’, ’emotionally charged and wonderfully acted’ with some ‘incredibly inspiring performances’ and ‘best stage acting I’ve ever seen’. Here is another huge compliment about Richard’s performance. This photo shows that the performance was awarded a standing ovation.
Here are some photos before the play began: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3.
This excellent review of the performance by Sophie Harrold contains spoilers that you may not wish to read if you are going to see the play.
Fans met Richard outside the theatre after the performance and he posed for photographs. Several of these photos were posted on twitter (scroll through my twitter timeline to see some of them) and also tumblr and pinterest.
1. Four new Into the Storm promotional stills have been posted by @NBNathanKress on twitter. You can see them in the Into the Storm gallery (the last 4 photos).
2. Todd Garner has tweeted that the full trailer for Into the Storm will be played with the latest Transformers films in the cinema. It will go online at the end of next week.
3. The Old Vic theatre have produced an education pack for The Crucible, containing pages of information about Arthur Miller, the play and the Old Vic’s production. The pictures are the same as the ones posted on their Facebook page previously, as mentioned in the news below on 16th June. Link to Old Vic New Voices Education Packs and a direct link to The Crucible education pack.
The production begins this Saturday. I will write about seeing the play in a week’s time, but if you’d like to leave a comment about your experience of the play then please do so using the ‘Write a comment’ option halfway down the home page.
4. The next issue of Total Film UK magazine (issue #222) will contain a 2 page feature about Into the Storm including a Q&A with Richard. I believe it will be out in 2 weeks time. Thanks to @GeekInc18 for the information.
The Old Vic have published 31 photos from rehearsals of The Crucible on to their Facebook page, 11 of which contain Richard. I have added them to the Crucible gallery.
1. The Old Vic theatre’s twitter page has been keeping us up-to-date with posters promoting The Crucible. I have collected all the pictures (photography by Jay Brooks) and posted them in this new gallery. Click ‘original image’ to see the full size of each photo.
2. The Old Vic has tweeted that you are in with a chance of winning one of two signed posters if you sign up to their newsletter before noon (UK time) on Monday. See their twitter feed for 3 tweets on the subject.
3. Fraser Kelly, the young star of Urban and the Shed Crew posted this funny picture of himself and Richard yesterday on twitter showing them during the recent filming. I have added this picture to the Urban gallery.
4. David Hewson has posted The Times newspaper’s review of his audiobook Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel on his blog. This audiobook, co-written with A.J. Hartley and read by Richard, was reviewed by Christina Hardyment, who states: “Richard “Thorin Oakenshield” Armitage is an outstandingly versatile narrator. This is the one of the most powerful listening experiences that I’ve had.”
5. The Barclays Digital Eagles advert narrated by Richard has been uploaded to YouTube by BarclaysOnline (the video I uploaded previously had to be taken down as it was an incorrect version of the advert apparently).
6. Some generous comments about working with Richard from some of his fellow dwarves at Calgary Expo, starting from 5m 40s. Thanks to faboamanto.
7. There was something not quite right about that Crucible poster – Tannni spotted it and fliipped the image. This is the right way around. Click ‘original image’ to see the full size. Thanks Tannni!
8. This video from HobbitCon shows Graham McTavish and Ken Stott talking on stage about running around as dwarves in the park in Wellington. A very amusing story that includes a mention of Richard. Thanks Aneta.
The Old Vic theatre has posted a new picture of Richard in character as John Proctor from The Crucible on their website. They have also uploaded a video to YouTube with Richard talking about this role. He says he feels like he has been preparing for the role for the last ten years. Rehearsals have begun and tickets are for sale for the run which begins on 21st June and ends on 13th September.
Apologies for those trying to order the Hamlet audiobook via the RichardArmitageNet Amazon stores. I have realised now that the error cannot be fixed because the audiobook is usually purchased with a free trial membership to Audible, so I’ve removed it from the RAnet stores. However, you can still order it and raise commission for charity. I have updated the links in the news 20th May below to give you the direct link via Amazon UK or Amazon US to the audiobook.
Alternatively, you can order ANY item from Amazon by clicking on one of the three Amazon logos on the home page of this site and then buying items from Amazon in the usual way. The fact that you opened the Amazon window after clicking a link on my site will ensure every item you buy raises money for charity.
1. The Urban and the Shed Crew production team have posted a picture of Richard Armitage and Neil Morrissey and passed on the information that Neil is on tonight’s episode of The One Show at 7pm in the UK. I’ll be watching and will report any news relating to the production. This picture has been added to the gallery. Update: no mention of the film unfortunately.
2. I have received a definitive answer on the question of whether Richard’s narration of Bernard Cornwell’s Lords of the North will be published. AudioGo Ltd, the only publisher of that title, went into administration last year. Unfortunately the answer is that there is no likelihood of it being published at this time. Harper Audio London and I have been tweeting about it today – you can read my tweets or theirs even if you are not on twitter – they own the UK publishing rights and someone else bought the recording rights so that means it cannot be published. They did state “in the UK at least” as they own the UK publishing rights to the title, but I confess I’m not holding out much hope for this audiobook being made available again. Treasure your copy if you own it!
The audiobook Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel by A J Hartley and David Hewson and narrated by Richard Armitage is out today! You can order it from Audible UK, Audible US, Audible Germany or Audible France. Alternatively you could order via the RichardArmitageNet Amazon UK link or the RichardArmitageNet Amazon US link, which is cheaper if you are not an Audible member, plus your purchase will raise money for charity.
The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch website has an article out today promoting the release of the audiobook with a quote from Richard, including: “Audio work like this reminds me of all the reasons I became an actor: the simple art of storytelling.”
Another article about the audiobook in The Denver Post.
1. A gallery of screencaps from the Audible interview posted in yesterday’s news is now in the ‘Interviews’ part of the gallery. I am assuming this interview took place in February when the audiobook recording took place, hence the name of the gallery. You can pre-order it from either Audible.co.uk or Audible.com or use the UK or US RichardArmitageNet Amazon Store links under the Amazon logos on my home page for a cheaper offer (unless you are an Audible member). Click the ‘Richard Armitage Audiobooks’ category in the RAnet Amazon Store to see a full list of audiobooks narrated by Richard available at Amazon.
Ordering from my Amazon store will also earn commission for charity at no cost to yourself. This title is not yet available from Audible Germany or Amazon Germany.
The audiobook will be released on 20th May and is 9 hours 40 minutes long.
2. A donation of £203.11 plus gift aid has been made today to Shelter, one of the four charities Richard has nominated on JustGiving.com. Details of how referral fees are accrued are here.
A video interview with Richard discussing his reading of Hamlet: A Novel, the audiobook written by A J Hartley and David Hewson, is now on YouTube.
1. Update: Five behind-the-scenes pictures from Urban and the Shed Crew have been posted on the heckyeahannafriel tumblr page, thanks to the admin of that page for posting. They are now in the Urban and the Shed Crew gallery.
2. Two behind-the-scenes pictures have also appeared from Into the Storm. The pictures were posted on the Italian Into the Storm Facebook page and they are now in the Into the Storm gallery. Thanks to Janine.
3. Photographer Sarah Dunn has posted two behind-the-scenes shots of Richard from her photoshoot: picture 1 and picture 2. Previous news articles about Sarah Dunn’s photography: news 28th April, news 2nd March and in the News Archive 2013 on 21st December.
4. Full casting details for The Crucible at The Old Vic in London has been announced on Playbill today. Thanks to @RA_Central on twitter.
The Daily Mail has published an article showing photos from filming ofUrban and the Shed Crew. Neil Morrissey has appeared on hit shows in the UK for many years which is why he and Anna are the main topic of the article, but the Mail is also not known for its accuracy in this country, hence the errors in the article. There is a picture of Richard, the actor who is actually playing Chop, near the end. Thanks to Lynda for the link.
The picture showing Richard has been added to the Urban and the Shed Crew gallery.
I’m afraid that Richard is not the narrator of D-Day’s Sunken Secrets airing on PBS in the US on 28th May as stated below, however he is the narrator of the British showing on Channel 5 in the UK on Monday 19th May at 9.00-10.35pm. I will post some clips after it has aired. Thanks to Evy for this confirmation.
1. The third and final part of “Thorin Thursday” has been posted on The Hobbit Facebook page. This interview took place during the UK press junket on 31st March. Part 1 here. Part 2 here.
2. This picture of Richard was taken at the Empire Awards ceremony on 30th March and is from this gallery on EmpireOnline. Thanks for the link Sally.
3. Richard has narrated a D-Day documentary called D-Day’s Sunken Secrets, which will air on Channel 5 in the UK on Monday 19th May at 9.00-10.35pm and on PBS in the US on Wednesday 28th May at 9pm ET/PT. The production company True North are based in Leeds.
1. A.J. Hartley, co-author of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, has posted pictures of Richard recording the narration to the book on his website. Click each picture to enlarge.
Mr Hartley has kindly given me permission to post the photos on this website, so here is the gallery.
2. This was the last week of filming for Urban and the Shed Crew. The production team posted two pictures on their Instagram page: Richard, Fraser Kelly (Urban) and water safety crew and another picture of Richard and Fraser in character. These pictures have been added to the gallery of official pictures from the production.
3. Empire Magazine have posted a fun collection of “photo booth” images including a photograph of Richard with Margot Robbie, winner of Best Female Newcomer award, which Richard presented during the evening. I’ve added this photo to the end of the Empire gallery.
1. Photographer Sarah Dunn has taken another picture of Richard, this time at the Empire Awards. She posted the picture on her Facebook page.
2. A friend of the site, Jane, met Richard today and gave permission for me to share the link to her photo: click here. Lovely photo Jane!
1. A big thank you to HeatherVideos for sharing her high quality images from WonderCon that I have now uploaded to the gallery. Heather was working at the convention and managed to get a prime spot while taking pictures of the Into the Storm panel. To see the full size of the images, click on ‘original image’ when viewing each photo individually. If downloading, please credit and please do not remove the watermark. Thank you.
2. Peter Jackson has renamed the third and final Hobbit film to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Read his post on Facebook here.
3. Empire magazine’s celebratory 300th issue contains a feature article about the Empire Awards held in London on 30th March with photos of the winners and presenters. Richard appears with members of the Hobbit cast, however the photo is a composite shot and a mirror image of Richard has been added to the composite, which is why it looks a little odd – the other people in the picture are not reversed.
Click the images to enlarge:
4. Here is another interview by IGN from back stage at WonderCon. The interviewer asks Richard and Max if Into the Storm is comparable to Twister.
5. Canal+ have a movie round-up video, including footage from CinemaCon, which took place on 27th March. Richard, Sarah Wayne Callis and Steve Quale appear from 0.55s. Thanks to @grat4ton on twitter.
6. Hysteria Productions confirmed that Urban and the Shed Crew wraps on 2nd May as reported on the Urban and the Shed Crew page. I will try to keep that page up-to-date with any news from the production.
1. Richard has been photographed on location in Leeds today. Click here to view: The Urban and the Shed Crew Instagram or via twitter. This picture has been added to the gallery.
2. Access Hollywood interviewed Richard and Max Deacon back stage at WonderCon, discussing the extreme weather in the film and the special effects.
3. IGN’s interviewer asked Richard whether a Hobbit spin-off might be possible.
4. A full length video of the panel at WonderCon is here on YouTube and includes Steve Quale’s introduction – this version is closer and better quality.
5. Robin Hood series 2 in the US: the Inspiration channel are showing episodes 9 and 10 on Friday 25th April between 9pm and 1am depending on your time zone. Thanks to Juanita.
6. Robin Hood series 2 in Italy: RAI4 are currently showing series 2 Monday to Fridays at 17:25 and repeating the episode at 9:50 the next morning. Thanks to Alessandra.
7. Some new stills from Into the Stormhave been posted on proyectorxd.blogspot.co.uk. Although it only shows the back of his head, I’ve added the picture including Richard to the Into the Storm gallery – click ‘original image’ to see the full size.
This is a great interview from back stage at WonderCon posted by Gig Patta, a reporter for Latino Review. It’s lots of fun – enjoy!
1. Richard attended the Warner Bros. panel at WonderCon, Anaheim, California yesterday to promote Into the Storm, along with director Steven Quale, Max Deacon, Jeremy Sumpter and Arlen Escarpeta. Here is a summary of news reports and videos:
- Full video of the Into the Storm conference here. Thanks RAnVeloce for the link.
- Four videos showing Richard responding to questions on the panel. With thanks to hi.imdaisy.
- The Hollywood Reporter‘s comments on the WB panel. Last paragraph about Into the Storm ‘Richard Armitage found himself getting the most attention of the actors present’.
- ComingSoon.net‘s review of the entire panel with director Quale’s remarks that it’s not really a ‘found footage’ film, and Richard’s comments about finding the hero in the character.
- Popculturemaven‘s review contains more photos than text. Thanks to Olya.
- Whysoblu: “Armitage received the majority of the attention, but collectively the group answered various questions about the film”. Thanks to Olya.
Photographs from the convention:
- Two high quality pictures from @ordinarydays_tw: picture 1 and picture 2.
- Update: Photos of Richard posted on Instagram by @minghsulu: picture 1 and picture 2.
- Great photo of the cast back stage on the Getty site and together with the 5 pictures posted on Getty so far and another one that doesn’t appear in the search.
- Three pictures posted by Heather: picture 1, picture 2 on instagram, picture 3 b&w on instagram.
- Photo by @jwatari.
- ReviewNation interviewing Richard and Max Deacon who plays one of Gary Morris’ two sons in the film.
- A variety of pictures were posted by attendees of the convention and now appear in the gallery with credit to owner listed in the filename of each picture (permission requested – owners, please state if you would your photo removed). Lots of pictures have been added to page 2 with copyright to Gage Skidmore who posted them on flickr.
2. Robin Hood in Germany: the SuperRTL channel is currently showing Robin Hood every Thursday at 22:10, but unfortunately the series is dubbed. Thanks to Nino.
3. Steve Weintraub from Collider interviewed Richard and Max Deacon before the Into the Storm panel at Wondercon. Click the link to watch the video.
Update: According to an advert shown on the 7TWO channel recently, Robin Hood will be shown in Australia after Easter on 26th April at 6.30pm (Eastern Australian time). Thanks to Mezz and KatharineD.
1. There is a new poll on the left-hand side asking if you will be seeing The Crucible in London. Previous poll results about The Lords of the North audiobook are here. Thanks for voting!
2. Warner Bros. UK has published another video interview with Richard answering fan questions about The Hobbit. Watch it on YouTube or Facebook. This video is part 2 of 3.
Richard will be appearing at WonderCon in Anaheim, California this Saturday – because he’s not busy enough (joke)! The announcement appeared on the Into the Storm Facebook page with the news that Richard will appear with co-stars Max Deacon, Jeremy Sumpter, Arlen Escarpeta and director Steven Quale from 11.00am to 12.30pm on Saturday. WonderCon schedule. This larger movie still has been added to the Into the Storm gallery. Click ‘original image’ to view the full size of the new picture.
RichardArmitageCentral have emailed the Old Vic to ask if Richard will be missing any dates – they say not as of now, but any changes will be listed on their site.
The Old Vic theatre has announced that Richard will be performing in The Crucible this summer.
The announcement has made The Stage’s news page, also stating that the press night will be on 9th July.
BBC News is also reporting that Richard will appear at the Old Vic in London.
Greendragon from TheOneRing.net has interviewed Richard again, during the recent UK press junket. Richard confirms there is no more additional filming to do in New Zealand but he will be returning to complete some ADR work. He also talks about the appeal of working on Urban and the Shed Crew and learning from his young and talented co-star. San Diego Comic-Con is looking very likely, as opposed to a seemingly ‘past tense’ reference to the Richard III project.
An interview with Richard has appeared in Stack magazine, a free publication from JB Hi-Fi stores in Australia, in which he talks about filming The Desolation of Smaug and working with Martin Freeman and Peter Jackson. Many thanks to Bo for the scan. Click to enlarge.
A Peruvian film website has mentioned Richard’s name in association with the making of a film called Casa Matusta. This is an unconfirmed rumour and the filming dates would appear to clash with appearing on stage in the Crucible, although that is still not 100% confirmed either. English translation. Thank you to Pollyspersonal on tumblr for the following translation, and Servetus for the heads-up:
“We are negotiating with Richard Armitage of “The Hobbit” and Nadine Velasquez of “Flight” and “My Name is Earl” series. The production company is negotiating with him for the lead role, that of a journalist who arrives in Peru interested in the history of the house Matusita, and Nadine for the role of his wife.”
1. Baz Bamigboye, Entertainment Columnist with the Daily Mail, has tweeted that Richard is in final talks to star as John Proctor in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at The Old Vic theatre in London. The play runs from 24 June to 13 September 2014. In response to a question on twitter, Baz said the deal is 99%, but no casting has been announced for the play on the theatre’s site yet. An announcement from Baz makes this very likely however.
Update: From Baz’s column in The Daily Mail – still not confirmed yet, but if he has indeed ‘signed on’ then it’s looking likely. Scroll down to ‘Samantha casts a spell’.
“Armitage has had what were described to me as ‘several very exciting’ conversations with Ms Farber about how she plans to interpret Miller’s drama. However, he is still in final discussions.
Whatever she said clearly entranced him, because he signed on to do the show not having been on the London stage, or any other for that matter, for 13 years.”
Here is a scan of the article in the print edition of The Daily Mail, with thanks to jh of the C19 forum:
2. The German Tolkien Society interviewed Richard on 31st March at the UK press junket. Scroll down for the English version. Some old questions, some new, such as which music he likes to listen to and that he’d like to take Galadriel dancing!
3. The Irish men’s lifestyle magazine JOE also interviewed Richard on the 31st March. We’ll forgive the obligatory circus question because there are lots of varied and interesting tidbits here and links to videos to supplement Richard’s answers. That’s a great speech from Arnold Schwartzenegger and Richard owns an electric cello – I want one!
1. Jess Denham of The Independent has posted another article from her interview with Richard, in which he talks about female representation in The Hobbit and why he thinks Peter Jackson did the right thing by creating a ‘strong, compelling’ character in Tauriel.
2. Warner Bros. UK has published a video interview with Richard answering fan questions about The Hobbit. Watch it on YouTube or Facebook. This video is ‘Part 1’ of 3.
3. This interview by Time Warner Cable took place in Los Angeles in December but was only published to YouTube a couple of days ago. Thanks to Olya. Update: this video was originally published on 17 December (confirmed by @RA_Central) but Time Warner have re-uploaded it, presumably to promote the DVD.
1. I have uploaded clips from Sky1’s highlights show of the Empire Awards 2014 to YouTube, which includes all excerpts of the Hobbit cast. This show was only 30 minutes long, so the clips are brief. For all the video clips shown from this event, visit The Desolation of Smaug Video Clips page.
2. Pictures and screencaps from the Empire Awards 2014 are now in the gallery.
3. Screencaps from the Digital Spy interview posted yesterday are in the gallery.
1. The @UrbanAtShedCrew twitter account has posted a new picture of Richard on set, playing the ex-social worker Chop, in a photograph that was taken last week (click the Instagram link). Today, Assistant Director @MikeyJGall has tweeted that Richard is rehearsing a stunt on location somewhere in Yorkshire. Two pictures means I can finally add a gallery for this production – more pictures soon hopefully!
2. Digital Spy have posted the video following their recent #AskArmitage twitter request for fan questions. There is an excellent response regarding what Thorin would have done with the One Ring, and Richard describes the scene I really missed from The Desolation of Smaug, which will be seen in the Extended Edition when it is out later this year.
1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug DVD/Bluray is out today in the UK (the extended edition will be out later this year – probably around November time). Click for a close up of Smaug!
2. This interview with Richard, which took place during the UK press junket on Monday 31st March, is probably the best of the ‘promoting the Hobbit’ interviews we’ve seen in a long time. The interviewer has come up with some thoughtful and original questions – good going HeyUGuys!
3. Den of Geek have written about their expectations of The Hobbit: There and Back Again, so the article is FULL of spoilers, but their (non-spoilery) comment about Richard’s performance is fantastic:
“Richard Armitage’s performance has been one of the best things about the new trilogy, making you believe that a hairy dwarf, so often the comedy element of the LOTR films, can be a heroic, tortured, and dangerous badass.”
4. The Independent have published a short interview with Richard, in which he gives some idea of the type of roles he would like to take on. Game of Thrones is mentioned – if only!
5. HobbitMoviesUK is offering some amazing prizes including a trip to New Zealand (UK residents only). Click here to enter and keep visiting until 30 April as more prizes are revealed.
1. The Spooks Fan blog has launched a competition to giveaway one of the Robin Hood audiobooks narrated by Richard. Click here to enter.
2. Here is another short interview with Richard at the Empire Awards posted by the Press Association. Richard believes the next Hobbit film will be a little shorter than the others and will again be in 3D, 48fps. Thanks Olya.
3. One of the extra features from The Desolation of Smaughas been posted by WarnerBrosOnline on YouTube, describing the outstanding New Zealand landscape. There is a brief comment from Richard in this video and lots of amazing scenery. Thanks Servetus.
1. The 10 minute version of the BBC East Midlands video is here on Vimeo. Thanks Eni.
2. Here is the full length interview with Richard on the red carpet at the Empire Awards from Tresor Paris.
3. This Radio Times interview starts with a question we’ve heard a gazillion times before, but then the interview gets a lot better!
4. The Anglophile Channel are giving away a signed copy of the first Hobbit DVD and also a copy of the second Hobbit film on Bluray. Click here for details.
5. This article in Besser Magazin (Austria) is a summary of some of Richard’s interviews on the red carpet at the Empire Awards, although he was obviously talking about Martin Freeman not Sir Ian Holm! Here is google translate’s attempt to translate to English (I haven’t provided a better translation as there is nothing new here). Thanks to Doris for the link.
6. Another couple of lovely pictures from the Empire Awards: picture 1 and picture 2. Thanks to Maria.
7. Two interviews from the press junket held in London on Monday 31st March: HollywoodNews.com and HMV.
8. For those following TheOneRing.net’s Middle-earth March madness, Thorin is currently losing to Legolas in the semi-final! Aragorn isn’t doing very well either. Vote here.
1. Richard was interviewed by Geeta Pendse for BBC East Midlands Today on Monday – she posted a picture of herself and Richard on twitter. The interview will air during the evening news at 6.30pm (UK), but they have already posted the interview on their Facebook page.
2. Mariana has emailed me to share her photos of Richard meeting fans after the Empire Awards on Sunday evening – click here to see them. Thanks Mariana.
3. A print interview with Richard has appeared on the Film3Sixty magazine site.
Richard gave some tips on being an actor in this interview outside the Empire Awards in London on Sunday (scroll down for the video). Richard appears at 1:02 and 1:47.
31st March
1. The interview with Richard on ITV’s This Morning, to promote The Desolation of Smaug, has been uploaded to YouTube in HD.
2. More videos from last night’s Empire awards:
- Richard accepting the award on behalf of the Hobbit cast and crew for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy film.
- Interviewed by HeyUGuys outside the event.
- A longer interview by Red Carpet News TV. Thanks to RAfandreamer.
- Another interview by Red Carpet News including some interesting details about the production that made Richard want to be an actor.
- Empire interviewed Richard, Aidan and Adam after picking up the Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy film award. Shame it’s a short interview, this one is fun!
3. RTE Ten has published a print interview with Richard, in which he says he will be buying the Hobbit DVD for the same reason as many of us – to watch the extra features.
4. This interview from the Irish Independent was published in December, but I didn’t see it at the time. Richard is promoting The Desolation of Smaug and talking about his fear of water. Thanks to Guylty.
5. Richard also appeared on Sky News’ Sunrise programme this morning. Here is the video on Yahoo UK News or on YouTube.
6. Some pictures from last Thursday’s CinemaCon event in Las Vegas: click here and look at pictures 19, 20, 21, 22, 26 and 27.
The Jameson Empire Awards 2014 red carpet and pre-show interviews were livestreamed on YouTube from 4.00pm UK time today, but Richard was not interviewed. However you can still watch the interviews, including Aidan Turner, from that link.
Highlights from the award ceremony will be shown on the Sky Select channel (UK) at 7.45pm on Saturday 5th April or Sky1 at 9.30am on Sunday 6th April.
@EmpireMagazine on twitter are currently posting the results live and here is their live blog.
Pictures and video of Richard posted on twitter:
- The first picture was posted by @EmpireMagazine
- Pictures posted by @MazdaUK: picture 1 and picture 2
- This one posted by @Rigilmusic outside the venue.
- Press pics on the Getty Images site.
- @JamesonCultFilm posted this video. There is sound so check your settings if you cannot hear Richard talking about his 90s footballer look.
- @Tresorparis posted this short clip – click the Instagram link. Again there is sound. Also I’m amused to discover Richard has forgotten he’s been nominated for 3 other awards in the past! The clip ends with the words ‘full force’ in case you were thinking there was more.
- A short video clip showing Richard talking about the Hobbit finale.
Congratulations to Michael Fassbender who won the Best Supporting Actor category – Richard will win next year 😉
Congratulations also to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug for winning Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy film! Richard, Aidan Turner, Adam Brown and James Nesbitt (also the host of the ceremony) collected the award on stage. Pictures here and here.
Adam Brown posted a picture of himself, Richard and the presenters of the award Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Sophie Turner, and here’s a picture of the award that Adam also posted on twitter.
Richard also went on stage to present the Best Female Newcomer award.
1. Marlise from The Anglophile channel has posted her reaction to meeting Richard at CinemaCon in Las Vegas and includes some footage of Richard speaking on stage at the end of the video. Thanks Marlise!
2. You can now download The Desolation of Smaug via iTunes UK, US and many other countries, or via Amazon Instant Video. Thanks to C. for this info.
3. I have updated the RichardArmitageNet Amazon UK, US and Germany stores (on the home page under the picture), which now includes links to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug DVD, Bluray and other special editions, and in the case of the US store, you can order the film via Amazon Instant Video if you wish. See the category list on the right when you open the RAnet store. I wasn’t able to add links to Instant Video for the UK or Germany RAnet stores, however, if you click on the Amazon logos on my home page and order ANY item from Amazon, commission for charity will be earned at no cost to yourself. Thanks for using these links.
1. Richard will be on ITV’s This Morning from 10.30am on Monday 31st March. I will record the interview in HD and upload to YouTube later in the day.
2. The Australian reports from yesterday’s event in Las Vegas, quoting Richard on the finale of The Hobbit.
“We are done with filming and they have a bit of motion capture left to do and I have a lot of post-production voice-synching,” English actor Richard Armitage, one of the stars of The Hobbit trilogy, told NZ Newswire in Las Vegas on Thursday.
3. Warner Bros. have posted a reflective quote from Richard while he was on stage at CinemaCon yesterday: read the tweet.
4. Lots of entertainment sites have posted short articles about the new Into the Storm trailer and this one from Anne Thompson, who has a regular film feature on WNYC (npr.org) in New York, is no exception, but the large picture of Richard at the top warrants a mention! Here is a link to the article on Anne’s Facebook page. Thanks to Chrissy.
5. A.J. Hartley, co-author of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, has tweeted links to two excerpts from the audiobook read by Richard. There are actually 6 excerpts to listen to altogether: click here for the full list.
1. A new picture showing the main cast from Into the Storm has been posted by Warner Bros France on twitter – click here. A collection of all the pictures posted by official sources is in the Into the Storm gallery.
2. Here is the teaser trailer for Into the Storm – wow, that’s exciting! Also on their official website.
3. Many pictures have appeared of Richard at CinemaCon in Las Vegas today. He has joined the Warner Bros panel to promote Into the Storm and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
- Pictured with Into the Storm producer Todd Garner from Todd’s twitter feed.
- With Into the Storm co-star Sarah Wayne Callies posted by @WBPictures.
- Several photos from Getty Images site.
- Lots of pictures on Zimbio.
1. Richard will attend CinemaCon tomorrow, Thursday 27th March, in Las Vegas to promote Into the Storm and The Hobbit: There and Back Again. I tweeted the news yesterday and Todd Garner, producer of Into the Storm also confirmed today.
2. The teaser trailer for Into the Storm has appeared on YouTube. Blink and you’ll miss him 😉 Todd Garner has tweeted that this is ‘a teaser for the teaser’ so there will be more tomorrow (see news 22nd March).
1. Hobbit Movies UK twitter account has announced another #AskThorin event, where you can tweet questions for a possible video reply. The Hobbit facebook page states that Richard will be asked the questions next week and they will post the video replies on that page.
2. In this article in USA Today, Sarah Wayne Callies talks about the spectacular special effects in Into the Storm and there is a picture of Sarah and Richard – click the picture to enlarge. The article gives some idea of what to expect in the trailer.
Karima has found a new picture of Richard taken during the recent audiobook recording of Hamlet, A Novel at the Audible studios in New York. The picture originates from this site run by Amil Dave, a sound engineer, but here is a direct link to the photo on Flickr. Richard is photographed with Joy Smith, audio editor at Audible. Thanks Karima!
1. Todd Garner, producer of Into the Storm posted a correction to the trailer release date last night. It will go online next Thursday 27th March at 10am PST (5pm GMT, 1pm EST, 4am on Friday 28th for Australian EST). World time zone converter.
2. Congratulations to Andrea K from Germany for winning The Lords of the North audiobook competition. Thank you to all 423 of you who entered!
1. A picture of Richard as ‘Chop’ filming in Leeds yesterday has been posted on the production’s Twitter, Facebook page and Instagram site. This is the first ‘official’ confirmation that Richard will star in this film after the announcement on this site last Friday.
2. Despite my attempts to request that this site becomes an Audible.com or Audible.co.uk affiliate (see news 5th March), it has not been granted. If Hamlet, a Novel narrated by Richard appears on Amazon it may be possible to order it via the Amazon links on this site in order to earn commission for charity.
3. The Into the Storm trailer comes out next Friday, as tweeted by Germain Lussier from Slashfilm.com. Finally a chance to see Richard as Gary Morris!
4. Voting in the Empire Awards 2014 categories has closed. Good luck to Richard and the other Hobbit nominees. The awards ceremony will be held in London on 30th March.
16th March
1. A photo from the Roxy Cinema’s reopening celebration event in Miramar, Wellington on 30 March 2011, has appeared on the AuntiesFavourites blog. The picture appears on the wall in the café inside the Roxy cinema and shows William Kircher (Bifur in The Hobbit) and Richard in costume. The Dominion Post reported on the event that evening. I have added this photo to the Hobbit Miscellaneous gallery, which is in date order so it appears as picture #2. Thank you to Aunty!
2. A few people have reported seeing a Barclays premiere league football advert in the last few days in the UK with a voiceover from Richard. I have been informed that it is the same advert that was posted in January. Also it seems the Vauxhall Mokka ad is being re-shown. Thanks to smitkit, JH and @sarahbelle0308 on twitter.
3. The Anglophile interview outtakes with Richard Armitage are here on YouTube.
15th March
1. A donation of £522.48 plus gift aid has been made today to one of the four charities Richard has nominated – The Salvation Army. This is a massive total accrued from December Christmas shopping and so I must pass on my gratitude to those who clicked the Amazon links on my home page. Further details of how referral fees are accrued are here.
2. For more information about Bernard Hare and his novel, watch this video by Andy Robbins on Vimeo. Well worth a watch, especially for the message it conveys about the circumstances in which people are still living in the UK.
News of Richard’s new project!
Richard has been cast in Urban and the Shed Crew, a Blenheim Films production, which has just started filming in Leeds in the UK. The filming will take place over the next 6 weeks (10 March to 18 April) and the director is Candida Brady. This film is adapted from the best-selling novel Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew, written by Bernard Hare. Richard will play ‘Chop’, an ex-social worker who befriends the eponymous character ‘Urban’. Synopsis from Blenheim Film’s website:
Bernard Hare’s book has been described as a tale of heroin and cement set in Britain’s underclass in the 90’s.
Eleven-year-old Urban Grimshaw is Britains’ most runaway child, he’s even been the subject of a hard news programme. His mother is a junkie and his father might as well be dead. He can’t read or write, and he doesn’t go to school. His average day is spent sitting round a bonfire with his mates smoking drugs and stealing cars. When he meets his mother’s new friend ‘Chop’, a disillusioned, ex-social worker also living on society’s margins, on one of Leeds’ roughest estates, the two become firm friends. But even ‘Chop’ with his own penchant for drink, drugs and hard living is shocked by the state of Urban’s life.
And from the Urban and the Shed Crew website:
It’s been described as a tale of heroin and cement, set in Britain’s underclass in the 90’s.
Twelve-year old Urban Grimshaw is Britains’ most runaway child, he’s even been on TV’s Crimewatch. His mother is a junkie and his father might as well be dead. He can’t read or write, and he doesn’t go to school. His average day is spent sitting round a bonfire with his mates smoking drugs and stealing cars. When he meets his mother’s new friend Chop’, a 37 year old, disillusioned, ex-social worker also living on society’s margins, on one of Leeds’ roughest estates the two become firm friends.
But even ‘Chop’ with his own penchant for drink, drugs and hard living is shocked by the state of Urban’s life. After much soul searching, he resolves to clean up his own act and do his utmost to save the kid. But as their friendship deepens, Urban introduces him to the Shed Crew – the anarchic gang of kids between the ages of ten and fourteen; joy-riding, thieving runaways, no strangers to drugs or sex and it’s only then that we see exactly how long the road to civilization really is.
When ex-social worker Bernard Hare turned his startling experiences with a group of young delinquents into a novel it was described as one of the year’s most compelling and best selling books. “Urban and the Shed Crew” is a stunning piece of ethnography described by ‘The Guardian’ as “moving but never sanctimonious, another City of God, this time for Britain rather than Brazil.”
Review of the novel on the Guardian site. Facebook page. Twitter account. Urban and the Shed Crew website. Blenheim Film’s website. IMDB page.
This news comes via an anonymous reliable source, who has been given the go-ahead that this information can be shared. No official announcement from the production company has been made yet, although a casting announcement is imminent.
Update: further confirmation of this news from the Sainou Talent Agency in London, announcing the casting of Nadine Mulkerrin, Anna Friel and Richard. Thanks @RCNY13.
Career page created – I’ll add to this as more information is forthcoming.
Part 3 of Anglophile TV’s Richard Armitage interview is here on YouTube.
Part 3 of Anglophile TV’s Richard Armitage interview will be posted on YouTube on Sunday 9th March at 9am (Pacific time), which is 4pm GMT. I’ll post a link here. Time Zone Converter here.
1. Here are high quality scans from the interview with Richard promoting The Desolation of Smaug in the Japanese magazine ‘Movie Star’, mentioned in the news on 2nd March. Thank you very much to Yoko for the scans and Emma for the translation into English. Click the images below to enlarge.
2. The Ovation Channel in the US will be showingRobin Hood from the beginning, starting tomorrow at 9pm. Thanks to Squid.
3. Some promising news from Audible following my enquiry about whether they would publish Richard’s narration of the unabridged Lords of the North audiobook: “Your first request from December 2013 concerning this title, has well been received, and our content team is working to release it on the website. I have directly contacted the person in charge of the AudioGo business, especially involving their content. I hope that we will able soon to satisfy your demand.” So, they cannot yet confirm whether Audible will publish the audiobook, but I’m not giving up yet.
1. You can now pre-order Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novelread by Richard Armitage from Audible.com and Audible.co.uk. The title is out on 20th May. Audible are owned by Amazon and run an affiliate scheme similar to the one this website already has in place with Amazon. I will be looking to set up affiliate status with Audible this weekend so that orders via this site will earn commission for charity.
2. Part 2 of Anglophile TV’s Richard Armitage interview is here on YouTube.
4th March
1. Strike Back in Germany: RTL 2 will be showing the whole of Strike Back series 1, starring Richard as John Porter, in the early hours of the morning on Sunday 9th March from 01.20am. Click the link for the TV schedule. Thanks to Sabine.
2. The German TV magazine ‘TV Movie’ has a small article called ‘Hollywood destroys the world’ in which Into the Storm is mentioned, alongside films like Godzilla, Planet of the Apes, Transformers 4 and Pompeii. Thanks to Carmen for the scan below (click to enlarge) and this translation:
Into the Storm
Alarmingly close to reality: A mega-hurricane follows in the wake of the tornadoes that sweep across Silverton, Colorado. Between low-flying debris, a desperate father (Richard Armitage, “The Hobbit”) is looking for his son. Film release : 21 August 2014
3. Part 2 of Anglophile TV’s Richard Armitage interview will be posted on YouTube on Wednesday 5th March at 12 noon (Pacific time), which is 8pm GMT. I’ll post a link here.
2nd March
1. The first part of the Anglophile interview is here on YouTube.
2. The photographer Sarah Dunn has posted a scan of a Japanese magazine article containing one of her photographs on her Facebook page. If anyone has a clearer scan of this article they would willingly share with visitors to this site, and perhaps also translate, then please email me (address above). Thank you.
3. A new month, so a reminder that the 2014 unofficial calendar is here.
1. The Anglophile Channel are hoping to have the first part of their interview with Richard available to watch this Sunday (LA time) on their YouTube channel.
2. Please keep voting for Richard for an Empire 2014 Award for Best Supporting Actor! The site accepts multiple votes.
1. Richard was interviewed by Marlise Boland of The Anglophile Channel yesterday at the British Consulate in Los Angeles. They have posted several pictures taken during the interview on their Facebook page and there is also a funny teaser video. The interview will be posted on their YouTube channel in March. The interview pictures are also in the Interviews gallery.
2. Photos by the British Consulate in LA have been posted on twitter and are also in the gallery.
Voting in the 2014 Empire Awards has begun, and as the BBC News website states (thanks Debbie for the link) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has the most number of nominations with seven, in contrast to the fact that it has largely been ignored by the bigger award shows. Empire Awards are voted for by the fans of course. Richard Armitage is nominated as Best Supporting Actor! To vote, visit Empire Online. The awards ceremony will be held in London on 30th March.
23rd February
1. News of Richard’s next work: Richard will perform a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet as an audio novel. The novel has been co-written by author A J Hartley and David Hewson and will be available via Audible on May 20th. The announcement was made by the co-author @authorajhartley on twitter (follow this link to see his answers to some questions about the audiobook), who tweeted a link to the news on ajhartley.net. I will post links to Audible on this site as soon as the audiobook is available to pre-order.
2. How long did it take to record this audiobook? According to AJ Hartley’s Facebook page, recording started on 19th February. On the 22nd February he posted that recording was finished.
3. David Hewson, co-writer of the Hamlet audiobook, has blogged about the news that Richard will read their new audiobook out May 20th. He writes that the audiobook will be available worldwide, it was recorded in New Jersey and there will be more news and audio clips closer to the release date.
22nd February
Win a copy of The Lords of the North audiobook, kindly donated by a visitor to this site, Miriam. Click the link and email your answer to the question on that page to [email protected]” data-mce-href=”mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected]. Competition closes Friday 21st March.
20th February
1. At the end of last year, Audible.co.uk bought the rights to several audiobooks sold by AudioGo Ltd who went into administration. The Lords of the North, unabridged version, narrated by Richard Armitage, was only available via AudioGo Ltd and Audible still do not have it listed in their catalogue or in their ‘Coming Soon’ list, so currently it is not possible to buy a new copy of the audiobook. I have created a poll in the menu on the left-hand side to see how many people own a copy and also how many would like to own a copy. Most fans of Richard’s audiobooks believe that The Lords of the North is the best one by far (myself included) so I hope one day that Audible will decide to publish this audiobook. Please vote in the poll on the left-hand side in the menu and let us know what you think.
Previous poll results are here.
2. Thanks to Glady for screenshots of the World Premiere of The Desolation of Smaug livestream, 2nd December 2013, which are now in the gallery.
18th February
1. Headlines Today’s interview with Richard was posted in December but it is new to me and I’ve posted it here because it is one of the few interviews by the Indian media. I have added it to the growing list of video interviews on the Desolation of Smaug Video Clips page. Most questions have been asked before but worth listening to, especially the last response to the question about how Richard’s previous work experience has benefited playing the role of Thorin. Thanks to Dia.
2. Thanks to a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment UK press release sent to me this evening, I can pass on news of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugrelease on DVD, Blu-ray 3D and Digital Download. These formats will all be released first in the UK on 7th April 2014 (US release 8th April 2014).
DVD packaging as shown in the press release (pending final pack shot). Click to enlarge:
From the press release: The Blu-ray 3D features the theatrical version of the film in 3D hi-definition, hi-definition and standard definition; the Blu-ray features the theatrical version of the film in hi-definition on Blu-ray; and the DVD features the theatrical version in standard definition. The Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray copies also include a digital version of the movie with UltraViolet. Fans can also own The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in digital download on 7 April via purchase from digital retailers.
BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray contain the following special features:
- Peter Jackson Invites You to the Set: In the Company of the Hobbit and Peter Jackson Invites You to the Set: All in a Day’s Work – Experience the film’s challenges and demands, and journey alongside the director into Mirkwood, Lake-town and Dale as the movie’s most intense, pivotal scenes are created
- Production Videos – Watch production come to life as Peter Jackson gives you an inside look at the making of the film
- New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth, Part 2 – Travel with Peter Jackson and his team across the stunning locations of New Zealand transformed by the filmmakers into Middle-earth
- “I See Fire” Music Video – Ed Sheeran’s beautiful theme song from the film is illuminated with this intimate music video
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug DVD contains the following special features:
- New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth, Part 2 – Travel with Peter Jackson and his team across the stunning locations of New Zealand transformed by the filmmakers into Middle-earth
1. Behind the scenes clips from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug are on TrailerAddict (check the description under the video for parts 2 and 3). Alternatively all three parts are shown as one video on YouTube. If you scroll down on that TrailerAddict link and click ‘View all videos’ you’ll see several trailers and clips from the film and interviews with the cast.
2. An English translation of the TV Bros. article is now in yesterday’s news, thanks to Emma.
16th February
Click the images below to see better quality scans from the Japanese magazine TV Bros. (originally posted below in the news 13th Feb). Thank you very much to Yoko for the scans. Here is a translation of the article into English, with many thanks to Emma.
1. Kevin McCarthy interviews the cast of The Hobbit via Geek Nation. Richard appears at 8m 34s and again at 11m 40s. Thanks to Laura for the link.
2. Spooks series 9 promotional videos and interviews that were previously downloadable from this site have now been uploaded to the RichardArmitageNet YouTube channel. You can watch direct from my channel or via the Spooks 9 Interviews and Clips page. This should make it easier to view the clips. Enjoy!
A really interesting interview with Jed Brophy was posted a few days ago on the Critics Associated site, with lots of references to working on Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. For specific mentions of Richard see his response to the first question, what he’d still like to film (I’d pay good money to see that), and his memories of filming the Battle of the Five Armies. Thanks to the interviewer @ElisaWSS for the tweet. FYI you can follow Jed Brophy on twitter at @BrophyJed.
1. Richard has appeared in the Japanese magazine TV Bros. dated 15 February 2014 as part of the recent Desolation of Smaug promotion in Japan. Photograph by Sarah Dunn. The film will be released there on 28th February. Thanks to @punkt_ochibo for posting (and @mdr_eng for the heads-up). Click the picture below to enlarge. If anyone is able to send me a translation, please email me (Ali) at [email protected]” data-mce-href=”mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected] thank you.
2. Thanks to @matildRAs for finding this review of the Pinter/PROUST play, in which Swann was described as being ‘played with melancholy dignity by Richard Armitage’. Note new picture at the end.
10th February
1. Lots of photos of Richard at the Berlin Hobbit premiere (9 Dec 2013) have been posted on starwhispers.com. Please note the reposting restrictions stated below the photos. Thanks to Nicole and Glady for the link.
2. A picture of John and Margaret from North and South appeared in Times Square, New York recently thanks to a tweet posted by @armitageblogger. Thanks Laura for the link.
3. The New Yorker’s review of the Pinter/PROUST play that took place on 16th January, makes a mention of “a strapping Richard Armitage as the stately Swann”.
4. A donation of £376.64 plus gift aid has been made today to Childline as a result of your generous use of the Amazon links on the home page. Thank you very much! Further details of how referral fees are accrued are here.
1. The February 2014 issue of Empire magazine includes a 5 star review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and a short preview of The Hobbit: There and Back Again. Thanks to Jen for the scans. Click the thumbnails below to read.
2. Into the Storm release dates have been updated on IMDB. More countries have been added to the list and France’s release date has been brought forward to 13th August. Thanks to Joane.
3. Lucy Brown, who played Ivy in the 2005 production Malice Aforethought (and also Miss Latimer in North and South) has posted a photo used for continuity on Malice Aforethought on Instagram. I’ve added this to the Malice Aforethought gallery.
26th January
Lara Hillier, who played Odette in Pinter/PROUST has posted a cast photo on twitter. Click the instagram link to see the photo.
A 13 minute long video clip showing Richard in the one-night only performance of Pinter/PROUST in New York is on YouTube. Thanks to Aneta and Estelle.
1. Thanks to Glady for screenshots of the Google+ Hangout that took place on 4 December, which are now in the gallery.
2. Here’s a photograph from the Pinter/PROUST programme showing the actor’s biographies. Thanks to @girlfriday1035 on twitter.
1. Three short videos showing Richard at last night’s Pinter/PROUST performance are on YouTube thanks to Chrissy Lampard: clip 1, clip 2 and clip 3.
2. A framed photograph of Richard that hangs in a corridor of LAMDA in London has been passed to me with kind permission by the owner of the RA Bulgaria Facebook page, who has since informed me the photo is courtesy of Terpsichora – thank you! The photo shows Richard appearing as Felix in the play The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer and we believe it was taken in 1998. The picture is now in the Miscellaneous gallery.
3. A repeat of Moving On: Drowning not Waving starring Richard as John Mulligan will be shown on BBC1 at 1.15pm on Sunday 19th January.
Richard will be performing at the Kaufmann Concert Hall inside the 92nd Street Y building, New York City in a one night only reading of the play Pinter/PROUST on Thursday 16th January. Visit the website for more details. Thanks to Servetus.
A combined donation to Barnardo’s and Shelter of £153.43 was made today from referral fees paid to this site from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de for the month of October 2013. Thank you very much for using the Amazon links on the home page of this site to earn referral fees for charity. Further details of how referral fees are accrued are here.
1. Two Barclays Premier League football advertisements with voiceovers from Richard have been posted on YouTube for a while but have eluded me, so here they are now: advert 1 and advert 2. The first advert was taken down a few months ago and reuploaded with slightly different footage. Thanks to JH and Kaprekar for the links.
2. Cinemax’s uncensored interviews with Richard, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly and Benedict Cumberbatch are now available on YouTube via the Cinemax channel: clip 1, clip 2, clip 3 and clip 4. Thanks to Magda.
3. The Sag Harbor Express (New York) have published print interviews with Richard and Lee Pace that took place during a roundtable press event several months ago in New York City. Some questions are familiar but there is some new information about the costume design and a spoiler warning near the end regarding Thorin.
4. There were A LOT of video interviews from The Desolation of Smaug promotion last month some of which are on the DoS Video Clips page. As I mentioned on the guestbook today, I’m slowly updating this list so keep checking back if you want to keep up-to-date with all the video interviews Richard has given recently. Print interviews will appear on the Interviews page.
5. Robin Hood in Germany:series 1 will air on Super RTL starting Thursday 9th January at 21:50. Thanks to Michaela.
6. The 2014 calendar pictures are now available as separate pictures without the bottom calendar section if you want to save them to your desktop: click here. I’ve also made minor amendments to April and September as some of my photoshopping was a bit dodgy. These amendments are included in the whole calendar download (zip file).
