JPF Home Page Forums Creative Arts Forums Acting, Theater, Film and TV Forum The Hobbit

Just heard that Peter Jackson and New Line have resolved their differences, partnered with MGM (who had the rights to "The Hobbit"), and are beginning production on The Hobbit. It will be two movies, but filmed all at once, same as Lord of the Rings.

I'm a geek, and I am thrilled.

oohhhh iiiiit's gots it's in it'ssss pocketsssssssssessss my precioussssssssss

Yeah, I'm thrilled!!! It will be an interesting project, for sure. Hope Howard Shore does the music again!!!!!

I'm glad Peter Jackson is doing it... but I'm suprised at the TWO movie form. I know it's a long story, but the book is such a perfect example in illustrating the classic form of the 'high fantasy' genre that part of what makes the book a masterpiece will be negated from the in-theater film experience.

I guess the idea will be, like the Lord movies, to get the DVDs and watch them back to back.

I'm not so sure, Christine. I read this again a couple years ago, and I was wondering how someone like Peter Jackson (he's producing but maybe not directing) would do it. It occurred to me that it was packed with so much story that it might work best as a mini-series...one movie would end up hacking out too much of the story.

But I get what you're saying...how are they going to end the first one?

Either way, I hope they get Ian McKellen again...

Yeah.. it's probably more a consideration of money (i.e. 2 movies.. 2 times the box office and DVD sales) than artistic need in making it into 2 movies. But we'll see.

When billions of dollars is talking.. it usually wins.

Brian

I was just trying to remember how many characters from the Hobbit were also in the LOTR trilogy. Bilbo... Smeagol.. Gandalf.... anyone else? The elves perhaps?

Elrond

Gloin was in both books, but he didn't make it into the LOTR movies...he's the father of Gimli the Dwarf, and one of the many Dwarves in the Hobbit. And I suppose old Lobelia Baggins might count...possibly even Saruman and Sauron (the Necromancer) or even Galadriel. (Told you I was a geek.)

I recall reading a couple years ago that Ian McKellan (Gandalf), Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Hugo Weaving (Elrond) expressed their willingness to be in a Hobbit movie if Jackson were to direct. But Ian Holm (Bilbo) is now in his late 70's...probably not a good choice for the young Bilbo.

breaking one book into 2 movies takes me back to getting burned by the original animated Lord of the Rings movie which ended in the middle of the storyline and was never finished by Ralph Bakshi and friends. That was annoying. I realize they'll film this all at once but if they space them out over 2 years that will suck..

For sure. Still, I would be even more annoyed by an overly edited and shortened version.

Once all the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings were finally released, my family used to wake up on New Year's Day and watch them all, back to back...just a wonderful way to enjoy epic laziness. An entire day of Tolkien, leftovers and beer.

I am glad that Peter Jackson is doing it and really I am glad that it is decided to be done in two parts because it is a long book and one of the things that Peter is famous for doing is keeping the ordinal spirit of the films he does and keeping true to the books as far trying to be a detailed as possible. There have been so many movies done from books that have been mangled to death, for instance Dean Koontz's Watchers which is an awesome book but was rushed and mangled so bad that it made me want to throw up. In the book two of the main character's Norah and Travis fall in love and get married in the movie they had Travis as Norah's son, it was like incest in my mind. I could go on and on but I don't want to burden you all with the horror of it, and not the good kind of horror.