THE HOBBIT is a go: PJ and New Line bury the hatchet

[Elwell]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071218/ap_en_mo/film_the_hobbit_1
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2007/12/peter-jackson-t.html
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35108

This has been in the works for a while, there is some talk that the disappointing take of the Golden Compass forced New Line to finally step up and do the right thing.

[Brendan N]

No kidding right... Looks like Pete doesn't get to direct this one though. Shame, I quite liked his direction on King Kong.
Exciting news nonetheless, thanks for sharing Elwell.

[Moai]

A sequel to The Hobbit? That should be interesting.

[arttorney]

Actually, The Hobbit is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings. They have been planning to make a live action movie of it and I think Elwell's announcement concerns the clearing of impediments. (There has been an animation version of it made in the past. When I said live action I mean with some live characters. There will no doubt be a ton of cgi especially having to do with Smaug.)

[Mr.Otsredir]

Actually, The Hobbit is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings. They have been planning to make a live action movie of it and I think Elwell's announcement concerns the clearing of impediments. (There has been an animation version of it made in the past. When I said live action I mean with some live characters. There will no doubt be a ton of cgi especially having to do with Smaug.)

what i think Moai meant was that theres going to be The Hobbit and The Hobbit 2. they are making two movies, im guessing they are gonna break the book into 2 parts, cause it would be awful if they tried to come up with a new story for the second film

i heard that sam raimi really wants to direct this. i really really hope he doesnt get near this film.

[Aly Fell]

They're pushing it to break it up into two films. 'The Hobbit' is a wonderful story, but it doesn't have the epic scale of 'Lord of the Rings'. It's a smaller story, and more intimate for that, and it doesn't naturally break into two. There is a sniff of dollar signs within this decision, but hey, I'm a cynic! A nice tight one off seems more appropriate. Still, I look forward to it/them! :)

As for cast; hopefully McKellern will be back, but as much as Ian Holm has become synonymous with Bilbo, I think he's a little old to play the younger version of the character.

[Jacob Kobryn]

YES! I remember reading a while ago that PJ was not going to direct it because of legal issues with New Line. NL was stealing PJ's money. I'm glad they got over their differences.

[Elwell]

They're pushing it to break it up into two films. 'The Hobbit' is a wonderful story, but it doesn't have the epic scale of 'Lord of the Rings'. It's a smaller story, and more intimate for that, and it doesn't naturally break into two.
From what I remember of Jackson's discussion of it, before everything with New Line went to hell, the idea is to make it more of a prequel to LOTR than the original book. So a lot of the stuff that happens "offstage" in the novel that's alluded to in in retrospect in LOTR will be shown. I would expect there to be at least a mention of, if not an appearance by, Legolas in the Mirkwood section as well.

[arttorney]

I wouldn't think one can easily carve two movies out of the hobbit by itself. I could see it if they took some of that elvish and dwarven history out of the appendices of the Lord of the Rings to add in background, give meaning to the treasure hoard, and to the eventual conflict of the armies. Sorry if I merely restated the obvious to you, Moai. I guess it's one of my hobbies.

[Presence]

I think we all know just how wonderful this "could" be.

There is going to be so much pressure from so many directions. Still, the fact that everyone put their personal and professional grudges aside to see these films lit is wonderful.

Best wishes to everyone involved, I am really excited to see the casting process for this.

EDIT -- Elwell - I think Legolas has MASSIVE potential in all of this, LOTR has been Bloom's shining moment so far and now that he has had so much more camera time I think he is capable of really fleshing Legolas out in a legitimate way.

[Lotet]

woho, this is awezome^^

[Matsign]

Thanks for the news, i can wait until 2010. That means more wonderful imagery likely from Mr. Lee and Mr. Howe :) Not to mention the awfully talented folks at Weta.

[Elwell]

Guillermo? (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35428)
Interesting.

[Brendan N]

Pan's Labyrinth remains my favourite fantasy to date (even above the LOTR trilogy) - this should be really interesting.
Thanks Elwell-sir!

[0kelvin]

That would seriously be something amazing. Del Toro is one of my favourite directors out there today, and I think he would really complement the world Peter Jackson has created with LOTR so far.

[Jasonwclark]

Finally

[Eric Lofgren]

Hopefully, the success of The Hobbit will be the impetus needed to get At the Mountains of Madness on the silver screen.

[Alex Baer]

according to ign it's now official that Guillermo Del Toro is indeed going to direct the hobbit... definitely looking forward to seeing how this turns out in the next few years

[Aly Fell]

Rather than make a new thread, thought I'd update this one... A very interesting webchat with Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson on the Weta site. McKellen is back and I hope Christopher Lee. No final decision on who is Bilbo, but they foresee a role for Ian Holm:

WEBCHAT (http://www.wetanz.com/holics/index.php?itemid=695&catid=2#more)

[arttorney]

Three years eh? Bloody Hell! Better than never I suppose.

[WhizBang]

Something is better than nothing. I can hold out until then. Who knows? They might even have more killer special effects by then.