Warner Bros. gives go-ahead to two "Hobbit" films

[Scott]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Warner Bros. on Friday (10/15/10) said it has given the green light to start filming two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel "The Hobbit," ending months of speculation over whether it would finally be made into a Hollywood movie.

Peter Jackson, who directed the smash hit "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy that features some of the same characters as "The Hobbit," will be at the helm of the new movie, which begins production in February, Warner Bros. said.

Jackson co-wrote the screenplays with Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and director Guillermo del Toro.

"Exploring Tolkien's Middle-earth goes way beyond a normal filmmaking experience," Jackson said in a statement. "It's an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama. We're looking forward to re-entering this wondrous world with Gandalf and Bilbo."

The movie, a co-production of Warner Bros., its New Line Cinema division and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, had been stalled in pre-production for months as MGM fell on hard financial times.

Originally del Toro had been picked to direct and Jackson to produce, but the delays caused del Toro to drop out in May and move on to other projects.

Warner Bros. and MGM have reached a deal allowing MGM to cover its half of the production, estimated to cost a total $500 million, which includes the costs of shooting in 3D, sources told show-business newspaper The Hollywood Reporter.

"The Hobbit" is based on the adventures of one Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who lives in the land of Middle-earth that is filled with wizards, elves and other fantasy characters. Bilbo goes on a quest to find treasure guarded by a dragon.

The book, which was first published in 1937, is the precursor to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which also takes place in Middle-earth.

The "Rings" trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at box offices, and in 2003 the final chapter, "Return of the King," swept the Academy Awards, winning in all of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including best film.

(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Sheri Linden)

[Scott]

10/18/2010
'The Hobbit' to begin production in early 2011
J.R.R. Tolkien fans can rejoice – the movie version of "The Hobbit" is actually happening and is expected to start filming early next year.

According to a joint statement released to The Hollywood Reporter by New Line, MGM and Warner Brothers, "The two films based on 'The Hobbit' are now greenlit and will begin principal photography in February 2011, under the direction of Peter Jackson."

While the movie is expected to shoot in New Zealand, where the mega-hit "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was filmed, a labor dispute between Jackson and New Zealand Actors' Equity and SAG might require the production to move elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Deadline.com reports that Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis are expected to reprise their roles as Gandalf and Gollum, while "Hot Fuzz" star Martin Freeman is rumored to be attached to the role of Bilbo Baggins.

[Falconer]

What are your feelings about this? I will probably hate the movies, based on the fact that I hated the LotR movies, and I suspect that Jackson will be unwilling to adapt his style to the charm and whimsy of TH. But, I've got to admit, I love the fact that the world will be talking about Tolkien again. (Even if half of them are talking in pure ignorance of the actual books.)

[Scott]

I thought Fellowship of the Ring was a pretty good movie if I didn't focus on the Tolkien mangling. Not a fan of the next two. I'll go into it hoping for a good fantasy movie.

[GRWelsh]

I'm somewhat annoyed that they are going to split it into two films. What is the need or justification for that? I mean other than an attempt to make more money.

I don't know how well The Hobbit will translate to a big screen production like LoTR. I thought the old cartoon version did a good job, with its folk music and songs, it kept to the spirit of the book. But it didn't overdo it.

Maybe we'll end up seeing a full, all out musical production of "Chip the Glasses and Crack the Plates!" with choreographed, dancing dwarves.

No whimsy at all is bad, but I could imagine it going too far in the other direction, too...

[Scott]

I think the story works better for Jackson's style, but his King Kong sucked, and that's a pretty easy story to work with.
I'm looking forward to Bilbo's encounter with Golem, and Smaug.

[amalric]

I'm looking forward to it. I've spent five years as a member (and sometime administrator) of a LotR website, and I'd say 95% (minimum) of it's 96000+ members would never have heard of Tolkien without the films, so from that point of view they were a good thing, taking the books to a wider audience. I found the Trilogy to be good entertainment, but I never for a moment expected the films to be absolutely true to the books - in all honesty, I think anyone expecting that was really expecting too much. And I've heard the arguments a thousand times.

[Falconer]

Then what's the point of raising it for argument again? It didn’t bother some people, fine. Others, it bothered, so it’s a valid point of criticism. Personally, I didn’t go in expecting it to be faithful, but the nature of the changes still bothered me. Gimli as cheap comic relief, for example. That pissed me off. The Hobbit could be that times 13.

[Scott]

Oh, the Gimli thing got very bad starting in the second movie.

[Scott]

Some cast news:
Martin Freeman - Bilbo Baggins
Ian McKellen - Gandalf
Andy Serkis - Gollum
Richard Armitage - Thorin Oakenshield
Graham McTavish - Dwalin
Rob Kazinsky - Fili
Aidan Turner - Kili
Mark Hadlow - Dori

[GRWelsh]

That's good news about the cast, at least with the return of McKellen and Serkis... they were among the highlights of the LoTR, IMO.

For a second, I thought you wrote MORGAN Freeman for the role of Bilbo, and I did a serious double take... That would have been bizarre.

[Scott]

Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis sign on for 'The Hobbit'
As Marquee reported yesterday, Elijah Wood has officially signed on to appear in Peter Jackson's two-part saga "The Hobbit." Now, fellow former "Lord of the Rings" stars Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis are following suit. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the duo will reprise their roles as Gandalf and Gollum, respectively.

Both characters were introduced in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Hobbit" novel. Gandalf the wizard helps set the adventure into motion and appears throughout the book while Gollum shows up in a memorable chapter in which Bilbo Baggins finds the One Ring in his lair.

"The Hobbit," which also stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, is scheduled to begin shooting in New Zealand in February. The films are currently slated to arrive in theaters in December 2012 and 2013.

The Hollywood Reporter also writes that Orlando Bloom has been made an offer to revisit his "LOTR" role as elf Legolas for "The Hobbit," though a deal has not been made.

Stay tuned!

Look at that cast. Did he read the same Hobbit that I did?

[Falconer]

I’m telling you, their priority is to make a LotR Prequel that continues the style of the movie trilogy and has as many tie-in appearances as possible. They’re not even pretending to want to be true to the book this time around.

[Scott]

So it seems.

[amalric]

Apparently there's poetic licence, and then there's just making up a whole new story.

[GRWelsh]

I don't think Thorin looks 'dwarfy' enough. He needs a bigger nose and a longer beard. Just my opinion. Other than that, I like the look of everything in the trailer.

[Scott]

So two is now three and a whole lot of material beyond what was in the Hobbit will be included. The extra material that I've heard mentioned is good Tolkien stuff, like Gandalf and the Necromancer, but I don't expect a good film adaptation of the material. I'm just going to try to forget that it is supposed to be a film adaptation of the Hobbit and go in as it were some original fantasy film.

[GRWelsh]

I'm beside myself with incredulity. Is this the same studio that wanted to compress the Lord of the Rings trilogy into two movies, at first?

[grodog]

I'm sure it's hard to argue with $2,917,506,956 in movie ticket sales, not counting DVDs, calendars, swords, rings, chess sets, movie adaptations of the books, and the rest of the licensed paraphernalia.

Source for $: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films

[geneweigel]

Just thank goodness it isn't being done by Del Toro. Regardless of Jackson's penchant for zaniness (that as a horror fan I first saw in DEAD ALIVE),. its a far cry from Del Toro's illiteracy and lack of wit. DT is unintentionally frightening. Jackson at the very least has an appreciation of reading that you can feel which is far superior to most Hollywood interviewees. I mean he's no Ray Bradbury but even though he did contribute to movies what has Ray Bradbury really done for the motion picture entertainment? This THE HOBBIT is a puppet show thats going to be as close as anything has ever been adapted to screen before. However look at the Hollywoodization of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA. And they promoted that as a dead on version and it was a completely redone skeleton wrapped in dug up nuggets from each scene in the book. I most likely will go see THE HOBBIT because it might be an excuse to play a D&D revival game during that time but as far as is this going to satisfy? Well.... my hand is still on my dick for a Tom Bombadil extra scene from the last Jackson/Tolkien outing...