Wow…I don’t know about anyone else, but work has been absolutely brutal for the last month, and especially the last couple of weeks. I’ve got three more days until my 10 day Christmas vacation, and it cannot come fast enough at this point. So my apologies for not posting a whole lot lately - been a lot of burning the candle at both ends!
Anyhow, in the midst of crazy schedules, deadlines and good old fashioned stress, I did see this one bright spot today that made me smile:
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 the “Rings” trilogy, 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, spokemen 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.
Awesome. That’s about all I can say - it’s about friggin time! I love the fact that they’ve given him two movies to do it, and I sincerely hope that he can find a director that will put in even half the time he put in on LoTR. I can’t imagine that P.J. will be very far from things however. And who knows, maybe he’ll actually direct it at the end of the day. We’ll see, but I’m just glad that we’ll be able to return to Middle Earth.
Tags: Lord of the Rings, Movies
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December 19th, 2007 at 10:54 am - Edit
Christmas comes early.
Very good news!
December 19th, 2007 at 2:59 pm - Edit
All I can do is utter the Merriam-Webster word of the year:
Woot!
December 19th, 2007 at 3:00 pm - Edit
Awesome news! even if I do have to wait two more years to see it.
Being split into two movies surprises me, but I guess it’s probably a good thing.
It will be interesting to see how they make the spiders talk. Shelob looked awesome in LOTR, but she didn’t speak. Will they cut the spider dialogue? Trolls talk, too, in The Hobbit (they didn’t in LOTR), as does the dragon Smag, and the eagles.
I’m also wondering how the goblins will look. In LOTR, they looked exactly like orcs during their brief appearance in Moria. How were they related to orcs in the lore? I can’t remember. I do remember, though, that it was them, and not orcs, that played a major role in The Hobbit.
Anyway, I’m pumped! My 14-hour Tolkien DVD marathon just got expanded by 6 hours.
December 19th, 2007 at 8:07 pm - Edit
Found a little more information about this in a Time Magazine article about it today. Apparently the first movie will be The Hobbit, and the second movie will be a story that bridges the gap between that and The Fellowship of the Ring.
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1696080,00.html
December 20th, 2007 at 11:31 pm - Edit
Imagine the battle of the Five Armies…
December 21st, 2007 at 3:48 pm - Edit
May the hair on his toes never fall out!
Actually, I’m not sure I like the idea of a bridge movie. Frodo is young and innocent in LOTR, so an adventure with him would spoil that. If Bilbo and Gandalf had shared an adventure after The Hobbit, then it wouldn’t make sense that it wasn’t mentioned in their early conversation in LOTR or at any other point in that story. Yet I doubt they would make a movie without a hobbit protagonist.
It could be awesome, but I’m worried. =/
December 21st, 2007 at 6:09 pm - Edit
If he’s not directing then I’m not sure how I feel right now. His directing is what made LOTRO what it was and without him directing the Hobbit it just won’t have the same feel. I hope, through some miracle, he gets to direct.