The Hobbit

[Rand{CLR}]

Woo hoo!

Peter Jackson to Produce `The Hobbit'
By JAKE COYLE
The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 18, 2007; 11:47 AM

NEW YORK -- Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached agreement to make J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," a planned prequel to the blockbuster trilogy "The Lord of the Rings."

Jackson, who directed "Rings," will serve as executive producer for "The Hobbit." A director for the prequel films has yet to be named.
Relations between Jackson and New Line had soured after "Rings," despite a collective worldwide box office gross of nearly $3 billion _ an enormous success. The two sides nevertheless were able to reconcile, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) splitting "The Hobbit" 50/50, spokesmen for both studios said Tuesday.

"I'm very pleased that we've been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line," Jackson said in a statement. "We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth."

Two "Hobbit" films are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, similar to how the three "Lord of the Rings" films were made. Production is set to begin in 2009 with a released planned for 2010, with the sequel scheduled for a 2011 release.

Late last year, acrimony between Jackson and New Line became very public, with the studio announcing they would move forward with "The Hobbit" without the Academy Award-winning director. Jackson sued New Line over the amount he was paid for "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first installment of the trilogy.

That litigation, the two sides announced Tuesday, has been settled.
Jackson, who shepherded Tolkien's Middle-earth saga to the screen in a series of three films, won a best-director Oscar for 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." The trilogy also includes 2002's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."

New Line, which is owned by Time Warner Inc., holds the rights to produce "The Hobbit," while MGM, which is owned by a consortium including Sony Corp. and Comcast Corp., has the right to distribute it.

-Rand

[Ghost_Rain]

I hope the makes this movie because I loved The Lord of the Rings Movies

[CarbonFire]

Woo hoo!

Two "Hobbit" films are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, similar to how the three "Lord of the Rings" films were made. Production is set to begin in 2009 with a released planned for 2010, with the sequel scheduled for a 2011 release.

-Rand
WTF? :?

Maybe my Tolkien lore is a little rusty, but wasn't the Hobbit a relatively short, self-contained book? As for a sequel, well, they already made that (http://www.lordoftherings.net/) :roll:

I'm happy that Jackson is back in the picture, but am concerned as to who will be directing it. Producer honors is great and all, and I'm sure his creative vision will go a long way to ensuring this doesn't turn out as a crap movie. I'll be waiting with baited breath to see who they get to direct it.
:arms:

[Mute]

The hobbit wasnt that short, and i think they cut out a lot of the lord of the rings stuff that made the story stronger, so i think giving the hobbit two movies will give them room to put in a lot of the content i found missing from the lord of the rings, and hopefully theyll cut down on the shocked <insert character here> 5 minute closeups.

[CarbonFire]

The hobbit wasnt that short, and i think they cut out a lot of the lord of the rings stuff that made the story stronger, so i think giving the hobbit two movies will give them room to put in a lot of the content i found missing from the lord of the rings, and hopefully theyll cut down on the shocked <insert character here> 5 minute closeups.
Ok, I'll give you that.....if this is indeed their plan. The Hobbit is indeed very action packed IIRC, so they could potentially break it up and really flesh out the story.

As for LOTR, the extended editions did a decent job of telling the slightly more complete story. And at 12 hours for all three, I'm not sure I'd want to sit through anything longer. Sure, they still did leave a bunch of stuff out, but at some point, it just becomes prohibitively long for the medium to support (unlike books, which can be digested in smaller chunks).

[Mute]

Ok, I'll give you that.....if this is indeed their plan. The Hobbit is indeed very action packed IIRC, so they could potentially break it up and really flesh out the story.

As for LOTR, the extended editions did a decent job of telling the slightly more complete story. And at 12 hours for all three, I'm not sure I'd want to sit through anything longer. Sure, they still did leave a bunch of stuff out, but at some point, it just becomes prohibitively long for the medium to support (unlike books, which can be digested in smaller chunks).

Haha i agree completly, i dont think there was any room to put more stuff in, they did a great job with the amount of film time they had. But im still sad i didnt get to see tom bombadil and such :(

[Rand{CLR}]

The stuff they left out of LOTR, almost without exception, was for the best. Who the hell wants to sit through Tom Bombadil, all that singing in general, and EVEN MORE Frodo and Sam wandering around. When I re-read the trilogy, I end up skipping almost half of The Two Towers because I get mighty sick of Frodo and Sam. They're much, much better in the Extended Edition.

The exception? They really, really should have had the Scouring of the Shire at the end of Return of the King.

-Rand

P.S. Peter Jackson's involvement ensures Ian McKellen (assuming he's still alive by then), Andy Serkis, and WETA. A trained monkey could make a pretty good flick with those assets; a good director could make a superb movie. And there's always hope Peter himself will step back in as both producer and director.

[juneau]

Great news! Been waiting for this annoucement for months. Good to see that NL and PJ finally made up. :) Just a pity he isn't Directing.

[A1B2C3CAL]

Awesome! I can't wait....
:2thumbs:

[CarbonFire]

The exception? They really, really should have had the Scouring of the Shire at the end of Return of the King.

-Rand

P.S. Peter Jackson's involvement ensures Ian McKellen (assuming he's still alive by then), Andy Serkis, and WETA. A trained monkey could make a pretty good flick with those assets; a good director could make a superb movie. And there's always hope Peter himself will step back in as both producer and director.
Agreed 100%. Would have been so much better than the calvacade of crappy false endings we were exposed to in RotK.

And I wouldn't insult trained monkeys like that, who knows, they might get Jerry Bruckheimer or Michael Bay to direc.....to dir..... :puke:


.....oh excuse me. I couldn't even finish that joke, made me too sick even thinking about it :twisted:

[FieryDragon]

It's funny how me and a few co-workers were talking bout this film this morning and then the article hits today about 2 hours afterwards! Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing this film just for the dragon. I'm obbessed!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee169/FieryDragon/medium_smaug_dragon_from_thehobbit_.jpg

[minfootball]

the hobbit was my favorit tolken book

this is gonna be cool!

[mapes]

The stuff they left out of LOTR, almost without exception, was for the best. Who the hell wants to sit through Tom Bombadil, all that singing in general, and EVEN MORE Frodo and Sam wandering around. When I re-read the trilogy, I end up skipping almost half of The Two Towers because I get mighty sick of Frodo and Sam. They're much, much better in the Extended Edition.

The exception? They really, really should have had the Scouring of the Shire at the end of Return of the King.

-Rand

P.S. Peter Jackson's involvement ensures Ian McKellen (assuming he's still alive by then), Andy Serkis, and WETA. A trained monkey could make a pretty good flick with those assets; a good director could make a superb movie. And there's always hope Peter himself will step back in as both producer and director.

It's funny Rand I do the same exact thing skipping over Sam and Frodo sections. Also I agree totally on the Tom Bombadil edit and the scourging of the shire.

However two movies for The Hobbit I can't see it no matter how I look at it.

[Rand{CLR}]

Two movies depends on how they break it up. I would say most likely is they wake Smaug, cut to credits. Next most likely is Smaug ravages the city, and gets taken out.

Either way, the Battle of the Five Armies can take up half a movie itself.

-Rand

[minfootball]

i cant wait for the dark woods. that was always my favorite part.
i think they will cut it after bilbo and the dwarves make it out the other side of the mountians.
wow i need to reread the book.

[Trooper110]

I think they need to make a movie of National Lampoon's : Bored of the Rings :D

In all seriousness, can't wait to see a live action Hobit, totally going to kick ass with the dragon and all the fighting in it.

[(DSP)-Bar]

I was reading an article on it some place in the past few days... They were talking about it when the final Rings movie was out but it never bore fruit. I hope it is as good as its predecessors *COUGH* Sequals.