So we know Peter Jackson will indeed be returning to The Lord of the Rings universe as a producer on two more films, one of which is based on The Hobbit. Until now, we all assumed The Hobbit would be broken into two parts over two films and that would be it. But wait! Maybe not. MTV spoke with Frodo himself, Elijah Wood, who shared a few tidbits with regards to what exactly Peter Jackson has planned for this second Hobbit film. He says, "I haven't spoken to him directly about it [but] I've e-mailed him, and as far as I know, the two films that they're doing, one will be 'The Hobbit' and another will take place between the 60 years that happened between 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings.'" No sh*t. Now that's pretty damn cool.
So if that's the case, then there should be plenty of room in that second film for Frodo, Aragorn and others, right? Says Wood, "If I'm asked to go back and revisit that character and it makes sense, I would love to. I would absolutely love to." Personally, I'm not as attached to the source material as others are, and so this bit of news could potentially upset some of the more hardcore LOTR fans out there. Then again, considering Jackson (and whoever directs) would probably turn the first Hobbit film into a three-hour epic, I'm not so sure there's enough worthwhile content in the book to stretch it into two three-hour films. So a bridge film does make sense, from a Hollywood standpoint, but not so much in the eyes of all those loyal readers out there. We'd love to get your opinions on this, so chime in below.













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-11-2008 @ 5:54PM
Jim said...
"...the two films that they're doing, one will be 'The Hobbit' and another will take place between the 60 years that happened between 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings.'" No sh*t. Now that's pretty damn cool."
That's not new news, actually. That has been talked about for months on sites such as theonering.net. I can't remember the first time I heard that the second of the two new movies would be the bridge between The Hobbit and LOTR, but it's been discussed as a distinct possibility for a while now.
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1-11-2008 @ 6:23PM
tikirob said...
I love the Hobbit and it would be well worth seeing it on the big screen but I am not sure about the second film. It probably be weak since it does not have a novel for it to sit on. But hey I would probably go anyway.
Rob
http://www.movie-cat.com
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1-11-2008 @ 7:20PM
eugene said...
What the hell. There are more than enough real tolkein stories to draw upon rather than making some crap up.
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1-11-2008 @ 7:30PM
Philip said...
The Hobbit could easily be turned into a 3 hour movie. Not sure about this other thing they're referring to, this "bridge" between movies.
For my money, The Hobbit was one of the best stories by Tolkien that I ever read. However, I have serious reservations about anyone but Jackson directing the film.
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1-11-2008 @ 7:48PM
Gordon Werner said...
I would much rather they make a faithful adaptation of the Hobbit (at least along the same lines as they did for LOTR) and something new ... then to make the Hobbit into 2 movies with a lot of additional material ... remember the Hobbit is about half as long as any of the three LOTR books.
I am sure they could cobble something together from The Silmarillion
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1-11-2008 @ 9:58PM
AJ said...
What will they call them? The Lord of the Rings: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: The (something). That would piss purists off.
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1-12-2008 @ 12:46AM
mike green said...
this was posted at AICN over six months ago in an interview with peter jackson
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1-12-2008 @ 11:44AM
Philip said...
Cinematical isn't a LOTR fanboy site. I'm a TDK fanboy myself, and if I need news as it drops, I go to any of the various fanboy sites for that information. There's no way Cinematical could could keep with the flow of information in accordance with our feverish demands.
That being said, AICN isn't always right, are they? They and Latino Review are often wrong on some of their scoops. They tend to fall for the disinformation that some studios let "slip".
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1-12-2008 @ 7:34PM
Joe said...
I kind new of this months ago but it is good to finally know this is the way they will be going with the movies.
As if I like the idea or not. I like it I really had a fun time reading the Hobbit years ago and so it will be nice to see what it looks like on screen other then the cartoon version.
As for the part about about there being a movie that brings the Hobbit together with the Rings I think there is some things you can use to bring them together. Just like there is other stuff that happens after the rings. Yet it is not in the books. Like how you find out Aragorn has a Son. So the same is with the Hobbit. There is more going on in that world then you find in the books. So you have to read the other books that says what happens and so forth.
I just hope how ever the movies turn out they will be as great as the rings.
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1-15-2008 @ 9:47AM
Miranduviel said...
We know that Gandalf was always disappearing from "The Hobbit," leaving Bilbo and the Dwarves on their own. He was investigating Dol Guldur in another part of Mirkwood and reporting back to the White Council, composed mostly of Elves and Istari wizards, with a few other hangers-on.
A good second movie would follow Gandalf and (maybe) the Elves attacking Dol Guldur, discovering that the Necromancer is really Sauron, foreshadowing Frodo's arrival in Bilbo's life, and Saruman taking 'ownership' of Orthanc from the Gondorians, ending with his discovery of the Palantir and falling under the influence of Sauron. That follows what Tolkien wrote in the Sil, his letters, and in Appendices in LOTR.
Yes, dialogue will be a problem. Yes, the Elves and Dwarves we all know and love (or hate) could be in both the Hobbit and the 'interim' movies because they're so long-lived. Yes, Viggo could play a much younger Arg if he starts slapping on the moisturizer now. No, Viggo will never live down fighting naked in "Eastern Promises"... mmm... Man-flesh... Yes, I did see his Fellowship tattoo in with all the fake Russian ones--do some time in Bree for theft? :) And yes, I think Brad Dourif ought to get a crushy role where he doesn't have to shave off his eyebrows, like the Mayor of Laketown, who's only corrupt and cowardly, not creepy like Grima. (And Hugh Jackman for Bard the Bowman!)
And to calm AJ (in his earlier post), Peter Jackson would not let NLP call the two movies "LOTR: The Hobbit" or anything like that. He'd probably push for "The Hobbit" on its own; what the 'interim' movie would be called is anyone's guess, although I like "The White Council." The only bad thing I foresee is Arg and Leggy becoming Middle Earth Rambos (and Gandalf as John McClane!) when attacking Dol Guldur, even though Gandalf was alone in the book, and the place was deserted (Sauron had already split). Fran and Philippa could offset that with some steamy Arg and Arwen action, and tense scenes of Elrond and Arg arguing. Oh, well, we can but pray that it won't get screwed up...
Miranduviel the (wizard-groupie) Elf-Hobbit
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1-15-2008 @ 3:10PM
Jim said...
Philip,
That's a bit of a cop-out for defending Cinematical. This is a movie news, industry news, review, and rumor site, so if they report something that was WIDELY reported six months ago (and not just on AICN, whatever that is) and then act surprised by the old news they are reporting, then clearly they weren't paying attention to news about LOTR. Surely someone at Cinematical actually pays attention to other news site like theonering.net (I see authors here regularly reference other sites).
I'm assuming that Cinematical writers do the same, so if they are reporting on a movie - any movie - they should do research first before reporting old news. It's ridiculous to say that since Cinematical isn't a LOTR site they shouldn't accurately report on LOTR or the Hobbit. That's like saying that since USA Today isn't an electronics magazine, it's ok for them to run an article saying that the 80gb Playstation 3 just came out, even though it's been out for months. After all, according to your logic, they aren't an electronics magazine and shouldn't be expected to actually accurately report on that area.
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1-30-2008 @ 4:20PM
Diana said...
Doesn't it bother anyone that Jackson is being hailed as all things Tolkien when he dumped fans and movie for some bucks?
He used his fans to pressure WB into settling with him over his law suit him, I'm sure his fans thought Jackson would make the Hobbit.
How lovely of him to stay around to "help" with the Hobbit.. they must be nuts he's going to milk that project for every dime he can squeeze out of them.
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