From the folks over at Rotten Tomatoes:

After the past few weeks’ spate of bad news (and weather), have we got some silver lining for you: our preciousss is in motion to return to the big screen. Now that Peter Jackson has kissed and made up with the studios, New Line and MGM are in talks with Guillermo del Toro to direct two, simultaneously shot installments of The Hobbit!

A quick recap for those just joining us: Jackson was originally interested in adapting The Hobbit, but a very loud, very public squabble over profits between Jackson and New Line Studios for the Lord of the Rings trilogy put the kibosh on that project. The two parties reconciled their differences last December and Jackson, busy with The Lovely Bones and Tintin, joined The Hobbit as executive producer with creative control.

And now del Toro is in talks to direct the back-to-back Hobbit movies, each budgeted at $150 million (substantially higher than any of the Lord of the Rings movies). Filming will begin in 2009, with release dates currently set for 2010 and 2011. Currently, del Toro is putting the final touches on Hellboy II: The Golden Army. He was previously announced to begin work on 3993, a dramatic horror movie written by The Orphanage scribe Sergio G. Sanchez, and it’s unknown how The Hobbit will affect that movie’s production.

I’m glad to see that the momentum on the Hobbit movies is rolling along nicely.  If the first one is set to release in 2010, that means they’ll be getting to work at least later this year.  Good news indeed.  Now to see if they will bring back Ian McKellan as Gandalf which he has stated he’d like to do.

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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.

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Looking forward to the next Trek movie?  I think I’ve been what can best be described as cautiously optimistic.  Well my buddy over at Wife Aggro had a link to more news about the casting of the next final frontier movie.  Here’s the scoop:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The bridge of the starship Enterprise is filling up.

Chris Pine, who had been in talks to join the cast of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” flick, will play the young James Kirk, while Karl Urban will take on the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy, distributor Paramount confirmed Thursday.

They join previously announced cast members Zachary Quinto as Vulcan scientist Spock, Simon Pegg as engineer Scotty, John Cho as helmsman Sulu, Zoe Saldana as communications officer Uhura and Anton Yelchin as navigator Chekov.

Leonard Nimoy, who played Enterprise science officer Spock in the 1960s TV series and six “Star Trek” feature films, also will appear as an older version of the Vulcan.

Eric Bana, the star of Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” and Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” is playing a villain in the “Trek” film, which begins shooting in November and is due out in December 2008.

Abrams, creator of “Lost” and director of “Mission: Impossible III,” is keeping the plot secret for the film that follows the early days of the “Star Trek” crew, which was led by William Shatner as the bold Capt. Kirk.

Pine’s credits include the movies “Smokin’ Aces” and “Just My Luck,” while Urban appeared in two of the “The Lord of the Rings” movies and “The Bourne Supremacy.”

O.k. I can definitely thumbs up Quinto and Urban (although he seems a bit of an odd pick for skinny McKoy).  Pine - know nothing about him really.  All in all I’m still cautiously optimistic, although Bana doesn’t strike me offhand as the best pick for the bad guy.  Not that he hasn’t been good in some of his films, but it’s just a bit of a disconnect for me with a Trek film.

So here’s to hoping that the story and effects will be awesome, and that this eclectic mix of actors can somehow mesh and be believable as a crew. 

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I may be way behind the curve on this one, but my brother just tipped me off to this movie.  I’ve checked out the trailer and the site and I’d definitely like to see it.  I think it will resonate with anyone who’s a child of the 70s or 80s and grew up playing in the local arcade.  I remember that in the early to mid-80s almost every single birthday party I went to was either at the roller skating rink, Showbiz or Putt-Putt.  And at all those places there were plenty of arcade games.  I won’t completely geek out and go down nostalgia lane, but those were halcyon days my friends! 

Unfortunately this film is in limited release and not playing in my area, but I definitely plan to check it out on dvd once it’s available.  For anyone who has seen it, what did you think?  It got a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I’m thinking it must be pretty decent from the reviews I’ve read there.

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G.I. Joe was probably my favorite line of toys as a kid.  Yes, my brother and I had a fair amount of He-Man stuff before, and we had friends with all the Transformers gear.  But for us, it was G.I. Joe in all it’s gun-blazing glory.  Well, it looks like we’ll finally get to see just how Destro keeps that head of his so polished and shiny in the summer of 2009.  I’ll see you all in the theater, probably dressed up as Snake Eyes for old times sake.

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 O.k. not literally.  Or at least not publicly.  I’m a Tolien fan, and have been since I was a kid.  I’ve come to appreciate his work on a deeper level over the years, and certainly enjoyed Peter Jackson’s take on the books.  I’ve been hoping that New Line would get it’s act together and get Jackson back into the fold for The Hobbit.  Well…it appears there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. 

The saga of The Hobbit keeps becoming more and more interesting. Now, it seems that New Line is not only courting Sam Raimi to direct, which is not a surprise now that Spider-Man is wrapped up, but they’re also trying to mend fences with Peter Jackson, in an effort to get him to become the producer of The Hobbit.

Now, this is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, Jackson’s presence adds immediate credibility to the project, and the weight of the Lord of the Rings series onto it. Second, Raimi said he wouldn’t do it without Jackson’s involvement, so this is a good way to get him involved. Finally, Jackson on the project means WETA on the project, which means that the full weight of the New Zealand visual effects studio would be on board, as well.

We’ll keep you posted.

Dark Horizons.com: Jackson & Raimi Team For “Hobbit”?

Good news indeed.  If Raimi wants it, I’m betting he’ll get it.  Whatever mending New Line has left to do, I think they’ll do it to get this thing made.  It’s pretty much guaranteed to be a money maker.

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Se7en Samurai has a post up worth checking out on some new details regarding the WoW movie project.  I don’t play WoW any longer, but the movie has me pretty stoked, especially given the fact that Legendary is producing and the budget is hefty.  Go check it out, and I’ll see you in theaters in 2009.  For the Horde!!

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