The Hobbit to start filming next year, Peter Jackson to direct

[NewJeffCT]

I wonder what will happen with PJ's dispute with the unions?

>>>>

Warner Bros also announced that Peter Jackson, who directed the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, would helm the two-part prequel.

The films, based on JRR Tolkien's book, had been delayed for months due to MGM Studios' - which owns half the project - ongoing financial woes.

No release dates for the movies have been given.

According to industry paper Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros and MGM reached a deal allowing MGM to cover its half of the production, estimated to cost a total of $500m (£313m).
<<<

(bold is mine)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11560411

[rrneck]

1. I'm there dude. nt

[HopeHoops]

2. As long as they don't fuck up the scene with the trolls, all is well.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. What parts will he unncessarily rewrite, and what parts will he take out to make room for the crap?

And how many cliche and obnoxious slo-mo scenes will there be? I'm putting my money on 5 of them.

Five completely unnecessary slo-mo scenes.

I predict he'll write out Bard.

And the riddle scene with Gollum will become a knife fight. In slo-mo.

[tigereye]

5. although I liked the LOTR movies a lot, there is such a gentle and

nonsensational feel to the books that they really missed when writing the script. I still don't think anyone else could have managed to film them, but it's sad what they chose to leave out.

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Jackson had such amazing attention to detail in costumes and sets and weapons

it's very impressive,

but it seems like the actual story had no interest for him, and that filming the "story" was the price he had to pay to film the accoutrements and he did that as cheaply as possible.

[tigereye]

19. no, watch the extras on the videos - they were obsessed with the story,

and paid an amazing amount of attention to many details, and argued a lot about what should be included. But I really thought Tom Bombadil should have been in there.

[Rabrrrrrr]

23. I have watched the extras, but they weren't interested in story details per se

Sure, they wanted their own version to make sense and hold up, and sure they argued what should stay in and what can be excised, but given the amount of shit they added in and the amount of time wasted on battles and other ephemera that could have spent sticking the story that Tolkien wrote (not the one that Jackson wishes Tolkien had written), I think it's pretty obvious that Jackson didn't care about the story as much as he did the visual impact of his obsessive need for perfect physical details.

[NewJeffCT]

24. I missed the Scouring of the Shire most

The hobbits help to save the world from Sauron while enduring some huge battles and overcoming epic obstacles , and then come home and have to deal with the Shire under Sharky's rule... it really shows how much the four hobbits have grown over the course of the story.

[Rabrrrrrr]

25. Yes, me, too - shame that wasn't in there at all, because it is really important.

[NewJeffCT]

6. 5 in each movie, or 5 combined between the two?

and, if he is making The Hobbit into two movies, I don't think there is much he would need to leave out. He is taking a 300 page children's novel and putting it into 5-6 hours of movies. With the Lord of the Rings, he was taking 500 page books for adults and making them into one 3 hour+ movie each.

[JTG of the PRB]

9. Well, they're making it into two movies, but...

...the second half of the second movie is supposedly going to show events that bridge The Hobbit movies to The Lord of the Rings movies. I'm not sure exactly how they plan on doing that, but it will be... Interesting to say the least.

I also read a report, maybe sometime last year, or early this year, regarding some of the characters that were being cast, and there were a couple additions that made me raise my eyebrows a little bit.

[NewJeffCT]

10. I heard Martin Freeman as Bilbo

but, nothing definite other than Ian McKellan as Gandalf & Andy Serkis as Gollum

[JTG of the PRB]

15. I had heard that too, and I'm hopeful for that.

What I meant was more tweaking than I'd like to see - namely the addition of a male elf and a female elf that helps the traveling company in some aspect. There would, of course, be a love story between the two elves. If I can find the article I will, but it was a long time ago I'd read that.

[NewJeffCT]

16. It's been a while since I read The Hobbit

I know they met some elves around when they met those evil spiders or something... I thought it was mostly Gandalf, the dwarves and their burglar.

[JTG of the PRB]

20. Gandalf leaves the group before Mirkwood, shortly after the group leaves Beorn's house.

The dwarves and Bilbo go into Mirkwood alone, and Gandalf shows up again during the Battle of the Five Armies shortly after Smaug is killed. The woodland elves only hindered the dwarves by capturing them. The elves at Rivendell helped the company on its initial start, so that's supposedly where one of the new elves is coming from, the other from Mirkwood if I remember correctly. As long as they get most of the details right and don't change too much, I'll be very happy.

[NewJeffCT]

21. Thanks

My daughter started the Hobbit earlier this year, but has gotten sidetracked by 100 other books...

[JTG of the PRB]

22. I can understand that. Same thing happened to me my last year of college.

I love the book so much though. I re-read it every year in the fall. :)

[AngryAmish]

26. I heard Mario Van Peeples for Bilbo

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. No, he shouldn't need to leave stuff out - but he will, to make room for new shit he doesn't need.

[JTG of the PRB]

4. I can't freaking wait!

I'm just about to start my annual re-reading of "The Hobbit," so this news the other day was very welcome to me. :)

[Kaleva]

7. Hope the bad guys win in the movie version

[Lucian]

8. Anyone else find it unsettling that a movie budget is a half billion dollars???

Couldn't they spend it on better things? Seems like a waste, especially on a Peter Jackson film.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. On better things like what?

Other than the rather obvious answer 'something better than a Peter Jackson movie' which I will accept as an axiom.

[NewJeffCT]

14. The three Lord of the Rings movies made like $2 billion

so, the producers probably think $500 million is a good investment because you have a huge built in audience.

[stray cat]

17. You are just jealous you can not spend 1/2 a billion and double it in profits!

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

27. You have a soft spot for this particular movie specifically because of the union brouhaha don't you

[LanternWaste]

28. I'm looking forward to seeing it

I'm looking forward to seeing it.

But then again, I go to movies to see a movie, and I read a book to... well, read a book. (one of the reasons I also enjoyed Gone With the Wind, Watership Down and the Sci-Fi channel's production of Dune...)