The Hobbit Lives

[Benji]

Jackson Returns to The Hobbit

Lord of the Rings filmmaker set to produce two more Tolkien-based flicks.

by IGN Staff

US, December 18, 2007 - Peter Jackson, director of New Line's wildly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, is officially returning to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy realm as producer of a two-film adaptation of The Hobbit.

Jackson and New Line had been at odds after the filmmaker sued the studio claiming that he hadn't gotten a fair share of profits on The Fellowship of the Ring. At one point the dispute even erupted into a public war of words with PJ and New Line honcho Bob Shaye trading jabs in the press. But it appears that the prospect of another big-screen blockbuster (or two) was enough to entice both sides to kiss and make up.

Now, according to press release issued this morning by New Line, Jackson and filmmaking partner Fran Walsh are set to serve as executive producer on two Hobbit movies that will be shot simultaneously. A director hasn't been picked yet, but production is set to start in 2009 with the first installment debuting on the big screen in 2010. The Hobbit's conclusion will follow in 2011.

"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."

MGM and New Line will co-finance the movies with New Line distributing in North America, and MGM handling overseas distribution.

The studio and filmmakers have also announced the launch of an official production blog at www.thehobbitblog.com.

Huzzah is in order, it was only a matter of time

[Chris the Human]

But no PJ as director? I don't know if I trust anybody else to do the setting he's essentially 'brought to life' justice.

[supergrass]

I'd imagine the films are going to be in the same style as LOTR, particularly with Jackson on board as producer now. Does it mention who's doing the screenwriting for this one anywhere? I guess it won't be Jackson and Fran Walsh again if it's taking this long just to get him attached in some fashion.

[Chris the Human]

From reading around, Sam Raimi is rumoured to be interested in the project. I certainly wouldn't object to his contribution, Spiderman 3 aside.

[supergrass]

On one hand an established name is probably needed in order for that person to feel comfortable to do their own thing under the guidance of Peter Jackson (I'd assume they'll want to do it different somehow - otherwise just let Jackson do it), but then there's always the chance of some disagreements. Given that Jackson was going to direct originally I'm sure he saw how it was going to go already in his head.

[Hellfire]

I hope Jackson directs it. I hope he says "Fuck it, I'm making 3 1/2 hour movies from now on." like he did with the LOTR movies.

[Chris the Human]

King Kong would have gone close too

[Benji]

I hope Raimi doesn't do it, he's horribly over rated as a director, I do hope Jackson decides he'll actually helm it, it's, for lack of a better phrase, his baby to have brought it into a modern audience.

[apsham]

They're doing the Hobbit in two films, really? Well I have to say.. I am glad that they are doing it, I mean I enjoyed the Hobbit far more than the other books, which I really wasn't all that into reading through. The best thing is, no Legolas.

[stokeriño]

Where would they draw the line between the two films? It's been ages since I read the book, but I vaguely recall it going along the lines of:

Shire > Elf City > Mountains > Gollum > The Other Elf Place > Forest place with spiders > Something to do with a barrel > End of the road > Rawr dragon > Finale.

My memory is awesome.

[apsham]

Just a quick plot summary;

Spoiler: Click here to view

Plot Summary

Bilbo, a simple hobbit, is smoking his pipe one day when the wizard Gandalf appears and asks him to go on an adventure. He is confused and tells the wizard to come back the next day. The wizard does show up the next day, but only after thirteen dwarves have knocked at his door first. Bilbo is very frustrated by this, but he acts the part of the gracious host. The dwarves eat, speaking of their imminent journey to an old home beneath Lonely Mountain. Long ago, a dragon named Smaug chased their forefathers from the mountain and stole their treasure. The group now wants Bilbo to come along as their thief.

Bilbo wakes late the next morning, and is hurried along by Gandalf to join his fellow travelers. They begin their journey. Before long, they have gone further from Hobbiton than Bilbo ever has before. One night, Gandalf disappears and they cannot make a fire because it is too wet and cold. However, they see a fire in the distance. Thorin, the leader of the dwarves, sends Bilbo ahead to investigate. There are three trolls eating mutton around a fire. Bilbo tries to pick a pocket but is captured. Soon, all of the dwarves are captured. Gandalf returns and causes trouble between the trolls, until the suns rises and the trolls turn to stone.

The party travels for a while and arrives at a magical place called Rivendell. They stay here for a while and get fresh supplies. They leave and enter the mountains. Their path is dangerous and it begins to rain very hard. They take shelter in a cave and fall asleep. Bilbo wakes to see the ponies being stolen. They are all grabbed by goblins, except for Gandalf, who makes himself disappear. In the great hall of the goblins, Gandalf reappears and kills the chief goblin right before the dwarves are to be killed. The party flees into the tunnels. Bilbo is dropped and is knocked out in the darkness. When he wakes, he finds a ring and wanders until he runs into a creature named Gollum. Gollum challenges him to a riddle contest, and Bilbo wins. Bilbo realizes that the ring is Gollum's lost ring, and it makes him invisible. Gollum thinks Bilbo stole his ring, so he runs out of the caves to find Bilbo, while the invisible Bilbo actually follows Gollum out of the caves. Bilbo is reunited with his friends on the outside, but he doesn't tell them about the ring.

The party travels further, until they are forced to climb up trees to escape giant wolves. They cannot fight them off and are in more danger when goblins arrive. Giant eagles notice the scene, and rescue the travelers. They take them near a dark forest called Mirkwood. Here, they stay with a man named Beorn who helps them by providing them with food and ponies. When they get to the edge of the forest, however, they must send the ponies back. Gandalf does not enter the forest with them.

The forest is dark and terrible. One of the dwarves falls into a stream that makes him fall asleep. They have to carry him. After many days, they are near the end of their food and they leave the path, against Gandalf's advice, when they see lights in the trees. Giant spiders capture them but Bilbo escapes and helps his friends escape. He reveals to them the secret of the ring and they get away from the spiders.

Thorin is missing. He was captured by wood-elves. Soon, the rest of the group, except for Bilbo, is captured also. Bilbo spends weeks wandering through the wood-elves' home invisible, and he comes up with a plan. The dwarves escape in empty wine barrels tossed into a river. In this fashion, they float all the way to Esgaroth, the last town before their destination.

In Esgaroth, they are treated like royalty, and after a week, they set off towards the mountain. When they get there, they search for the secret entrance and find it after a lot of trouble. They cannot open the gate, until days later, when they discover the hidden keyhole. Bilbo enters the dragon's lair, and steals a golden cup for them. Smaug, the dragon, wakes and kills their ponies. Bilbo reenters the lair and has a conversation with the dragon; he discovers that the dragon has a weak spot over its left breast. The dragon attacks them, but cannot reach them because they've closed themselves in the narrow tunnel. Smaug goes off to destroy the nearby town of Esgaroth.

In Esgaroth, the dragon destroys the town but is killed by a man named Bard, who was told of its weak point by the thrush from the mountain. The men begin to rebuild their city, but some of them join a passing elf army in search of Smaug's treasure.

The dwarves are informed of the coming armies by a raven, and they decide to fortify the mountain and send a bird to Thorin's cousin. When the armies arrive, Thorin refuses to compromise. Bilbo steals a valuable stone and gives it to the armies as a means of bargaining, but Thorin will not bargain. His cousin arrives with an army of dwarves and the sides prepare to fight, until Gandalf stands between them to warn that a great army of goblins is soon to arrive. The armies fight the goblins, and would have lost, if an army of eagles and a man in the form of a bear, named Beorn, had not helped them. Thorin dies, and asks for Bilbo's forgiveness. Bilbo heads home with Gandalf and Beorn.

After a very long journey, Bilbo makes it home to find his stuff being auctioned off. He gets most of his things back and settles down again, happy to be living a simple life after so long a tale.

It really seems like one movie to me... unless they are literally going to do EVERYTHING.

[The Quasi Juice]

For me The Hobbit was always the more boring one out of The Hobbit and the LOTR Trilogy. Like Apsham said, it's going to be hard making two movies about a story that will not be as epic as LOTR was unless they add new content but I don't think Tolkien-fans want to see that happen. I myself already had trouble with Arwen appearing as much as she did in the trilogy movies, not because I don't like romantic sidestories, but it just didn't happen in the book. So I'm curious to where they are taking this.

Plus prequals are usually worse than the original movies (*cough*star wars*cough*).

Edited December 19, 2007 by Quasi Juice

[Benji]

She just filled roles of other minor characters, it was a good thing, instead of trying to remember all the names of nobodies (which I found hard as it was and had never read the books beforehand) you had a regular and well utilised presence.

[The Quasi Juice]

She just filled roles of other minor characters, it was a good thing, instead of trying to remember all the names of nobodies (which I found hard as it was and had never read the books beforehand) you had a regular and well utilised presence.

[Bushmeister]

I'm echoing the posters above me. I really have no idea how they intend to make The Hobbit last two feature-length films on its own. They either need to introduce some canon-breaking, or just come up with something out of their collective arses to make it work, especially if they aim for the length of the LOTR movies.

[Chris the Human]

Yeah, I'm a little concerned as to how they'll make a book that's smaller than one book of the LOTR trilogy into something that will add up to being longer than any one part of the LOTR trilogy. But, for now, I'll just bask in the knowledge that there'll be a fantasy film out in the not too distant future that doesn't suck.

[Ananas]

Funny how this whole thing gets settled a week after their originally intended new cash cow "The Golden Compass" got massacred at the box office. I also have a hard time believing this is actually "settled", since he's still going to pursue an audit of the box office receipts for the next two flicks. By the time that's over he theoretically could be available to direct. Of course, that's going under the impression that New Line wants to get this issue settled, not rush out a couple of cash cows to defend their awful post-LOTR track record.

[Ash J. Williams]

From reading around, Sam Raimi is rumoured to be interested in the project. I certainly wouldn't object to his contribution, Spiderman 3 aside.

[gunnar hendershow]

BRUCE4GANDALF

[Guest Ant]

They will probably add some stuff that woud fit into the original story. Jackson did that to Kong when he added the dinosaurs, arachnids etc on Skull Island