Does anybody know the news of what is ahppening with turning The Hobbit into a film? comments here..

Quoted from RobertSpence "Oscar winning director Peter Jackson says it will be at least three years before he shoots The Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit." Anybody think this will actually be made?

This will not be made. New Line co-chairman Bob Shaye and Peter Jackson are in the middle of a massive feud and have been there for quite some time. This has even made it to the major news outlets. Check out this article for basically the most up-to-date info on this film and the feud, over at CNN.

-Zavier

That's harsh. It's a shame it all came to this. I think if I were paid a quarter billion dollars, though, I'd be happy with the paycheck.

Some good news. It seems that New Line is trying to make amends with Peter Jackson over The Hobbit.

Get more details over at Premiere.

I read that earlier. I hope they do get everything with Jackson worked out. I wouldn't want it to end up in the hands of someone like the director of Spiderman. arrg. That would suck. I like Spiderman and everything, but to me, they were nothing groundbreaking and the last one wasn't very good.

Jackson seems like the only good choice to film something in Middle-Earth...at least to me, a fan of the books and the movies.

-Chris

Some very cool news. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct back-to-back installments of The Hobbit.

Quoted Text Because of the strike, no writer has been hired to adapt Tolkien's children's classic, though that process will be fast-tracked once it's resolved. Del Toro and Jackson will oversee "Hobbit's" writing.

Can't say I much cared for the Lord of the Rings movies, but I'll definitely give these ones a look if Del Toro winds up directing. Be really interesting to see his take on things.


Matt.

I'm a huge fan of Peter Jackson and the Lord of the Rings movies, and was hoping he'd be the one at the helm for continuities sake. I've never cared much for Del Toro's films. I even got bored with the trailer for Hellboy 2.

He better not screw it up.

-Chris

Just when everyone thought this film was finally going to be made, New Line gets sued again. This time by the Tolkien Estate, who are claiming that the company failed to pay a cut of gross profits for the blockbuster films.

Quoted Text ...the plaintiffs have a right to terminate any further rights New Line may have to the Tolkien works under the agreements, including The Hobbit...

read more over at comingsoon.com

Hey,

While certainly a tangle in Gandalf's beard, hopefully it won't hold it up too much. I hope New Line isn't so stupid as to throw away all the potential money to be made over a petty 150 million dollars.

Pay up New Line. Let's get this dragon into the sky.

sheepwalker  

Hey,

It's official, Guillermo del Toro is going to direct  The Hobbit and a second movie that's going to bridge the gap between The Hobbit and LOTR.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i0f3a7216274d5d8241ccf88e0f921f7f

I feel alright with this. Toro is competent and Peter Jackson supposed to be involved. Hopefully it's able to live up to it's potential.

sheepwalker

Quoted from Soap Hands I feel alright with this. Toro is competent and Peter Jackson supposed to be involved. Hopefully it's able to live up to it's potential. sheepwalker

I certainly would say that Toro is more than competent, he should do a really good job. The Hobbit is quite a dark book really. Toro has agreed to move to New Zealand and live their for 4 years just to make these movies!! With that kind of dedication you just know he will do a brilliant job.

There seems to be some confusion over what the second movie will be, but it does seem that they are planning to cut the book in half and not as some have suggested make the Hobbit and then some as yet unwritten sequel. I cannot see them doing anything else, there is more than enough going on in that book to get two movies out of it.

I was not really a huge fan of LOTR, I saw the movies and was impressed but never seen them since and have no real urge too. But I loved the Hobbit when I was a kid and would love to see it on screen.

No, the first film will be The Hobbit, and the second will be an untitled sequel that bridges the 60 year gap between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

It's good news for Tolkien fans but....I was hoping Del Toro would finally find someone to finance "In The Mountains Of Madness". So this puts it on the back burner for 4-5 years now.

And gee...we already had the Rankin-Bass Hobbit  ;)

Hey,

Quoted from GM The Hobbit is quite a dark book really.

Really? I didn't get that when I read it. But I was 12, maybe it was over my head.

Quoted from GM There seems to be some confusion over what the second movie will be, but it does seem that they are planning to cut the book in half and not as some have suggested make the Hobbit and then some as yet unwritten sequel.

I think the second one may be based on the Silmarillion, a kind of history of middle earth, or something. I tried reading it but found it pretty dry. It really was like a history book, even though Tolkien writing is sort of like that anyway it's especially the case with this. But I did find out that Aragorn was actually a half elf( or at least partially elf, his great, great grand daddy married one)

But hopefully they focus it some and fill in the characters some more and it will turn out alright.

sheepwalker

Quoted from Elmer No, the first film will be The Hobbit, and the second will be an untitled sequel that bridges the 60 year gap between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Yeh think you might be right but there does seems to be some confusion on that. Some news reports were saying that New Line corrected the news by saying it would be The Hobbit filmed in two parts and not The Hobbit plus a sequel. But New Line's website still says it will be a sequel, so god knows.

If it was to be a sequel I would guess it would be a new story that incorporates all the history pre LOTR that Tolkein wrote about in the the Silmarillion and the collection of unfinished tales that were published after his death. but It would have a new narrative written, someone's back story with a love interest or something.

I seem to remember it being quite dark, the scenes with Gollum and the riddles gave me nightmares! The Mirkwoodt, the dragon. I don't know, long time since I read it. But whether or not it was dark with Del Toro at the helm it sure will be.

Del Toro just did an interview with theonering.net  and said that the sequel is not the second half of The Hobbit. He said that the sequel will be it's on self-contained story and not an extension of The Hobbit.

-Chris

There is an interview at MTV.com where Guillermo says...

Quoted Text We're going to start with "The Hobbit," in the writing process. We'll see if we can fully contain it in one movie, which I think is perfectly possible. We'll take it from there.

So it looks likely, though it is clear things are a long way off yet if they have not even outlined the script yet!


I liked one statement he made..

Quoted Text It is my hope that when "The Hobbit" gets scary, it will get really scary

  ;D

The interview is here...

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1586421/20080428/story.jhtml?rsspartner=rssFeedBurner

Personally im a big fan of the lord of the rings trilogy and i can't wait to watch The Hobbit. I think Del Toro is a good choice, he puts a good vision on the stories he tells.

Quoted Text So the only thing left unmentioned by New Line Cinema’s press release is whether the film will continue to be shot in New Zealand, where localized pre-production work (like the rebuilding of Hobbiton) has already begun; or if actors labor disputes will cause the production to move to Europe.

I don't think I'd want to watch these films if they aren't shot in New Zealand.

The Hobbit begins production in February. Peter Jackson is directing both parts. Guillermo del Toro is directing Frankenstein but still made some contributions to the writing.

No word where it's being shot. I would assume New Zealand.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=70790

They're being shot in 3D, though. Which is a shame, because I firmly believe 3D has no place outside of animated films. Chris Nolan's right - IMAX is the way forward for films like this. 3D is just an expensive, distracting gimmick. I'm honestly surprised Jackson's using it.

I suppose the only consolation is that they're actually shooting in 3D, rather than converting in post. Still, I wish they wouldn't bother...

Quoted from JonnyBoy They're being shot in 3D, though. Which is a shame, because I firmly believe 3D has no place outside of animated films. Chris Nolan's right - IMAX is the way forward for films like this. 3D is just an expensive, distracting gimmick. I'm honestly surprised Jackson's using it. I suppose the only consolation is that they're actually shooting in 3D, rather than converting in post. Still, I wish they wouldn't bother...

My knee jerk reaction was to be opposed to this but I imagine they'd use it more like Avatar did, adding an extra dimension to the film and not so much a gimmick. Pretty sure Jackson has 100% creative control at this point in his career. If he wanted to oppose 3D, he could. I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing.

But as with all films, only time will tell.

I heard Martin Freeman, of the Office (UK original version) is to play Bilbao. Sorry, that's in Spain. Bilbo Bagnuts. Sorry, Baggins. Me in silly mood.

Now, where did I hear that? Ah yes, Simon Pegg interview in the Guardian.

Is this true? Or is he just taking the pisspots as per?

Jackson now has a green light. They say it will be the most expensive movie ever made. I bet Guillermo del Toro is doing second unit, not matter what the papers say. And the cast is mainly LotR types.

Should be good. Hell, maybe great in fact. I tried reading the fucking things many times. But I can watch the movies again and again. Jackson is the man. And he discovered Blomkamp. More power to him.

R xo

Yeah, seems to be true, Martin Freeman is Bilbo. He initially tuned it down because he was committed to making more Sherlock Holmes for the BBC but it seems they wanted him so bad they re-arranged the schedule so he could film both.

Production began on the 21st of March, so this is kind of old. But they released two set photos of Peter Jackson in Hobbiton on the first day of filming.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/21/the-hobbit-movie-photos/

I'm so freakin stoked for this. My most anticipated film of all time, probably.

Surprised this hasn't been posted before. Thorin Oakenshield and his company of Dwarves! TheOneRing.net has a larger version of the picture.
.

Apple trailers has exclusively premiered the fucking awesome new trailer for the first part, titled An Unexpected Journey.

Check it here, yo.

ahhh! It looks so freaking good. As long as the world doesn't end until after I see this, I'm good.

I honestly thought the trailer for The Hobbit was more impressive than The Dark Knight Rises. Can't wait for December 2012...

The trailer makes it look like they actually filmed The Hobbit during the production of Lord of the Rings, which is exactly how it should look. It's perfect. It's also wonderful to see Guillermo Del Toro's writing credit in gleaming gold letters.

That said, I haven't seen any of the LOTR films in years and now I remember why. The Hobbit trailer reminds me how incredibly long and arduous they were to watch, even though I did enjoy them. I'm not quite sure I'm ready for another two three-hour films about Middle Earth. In 2:29 minutes, they've already added thirteen characters to Peter Jackson's Tolkien universe. Yipes!

Sort of underwhelmed.

Feels like there's nothing to be said that's not already been said.

It just felt like a smaller version of LOTR. The same structure even.

The time is drawing ever closer before the return to Middle Earth in December so I thought I would throw up the new trailer released a few weeks ago.

Looking forward to it.

Mark

Look okay.
I agree, more of the same.
I guess we'll see.

Peter Jackson is a legend (especially in New Zealand, he's our only decent film maker).

Really looking forward to this one.