MY PRECIOUS!

I just saw, via Propeller, that Peter Jackson has signed on to produce The Hobbit.

Director Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc said on Tuesday they have agreed to make two movies based on the book “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien, ending months of legal wrangling.

Jackson, the director of the smash hit “Lord of the Rings” movies, and producer Fran Walsh will executive produce both a “Hobbit” movie and a sequel, but no decision has been made about who will direct the films, Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of New Line told Reuters.

The good news is, it’s going to take two whole films to contain its awesomeness. The (potential) bad news is, he won’t be directing. That’s offset by the (potential) good news that it will make its way into theaters before 2011.

King Kong showed that Peter Jackson isn’t infallible, but it’s clear that he loves and respects Tolkien’s work, so I’m sure I’m not the only geek who would be willing to wait until 2011 or 2012 if that’s what it takes to get someone who loves it as much as we do behind the camera. I mean, we’ve waited for decades for this; what’s a few more years to get it right?

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30 thoughts on “MY PRECIOUS!”

  2. As dumb as this sounds, I’d be willing to wait forever. Don’t get me wrong, I totally enjoyed the LoTR trilogy but I could have lived a long happy life if it was NEVER made into a movie. And the same goes for The Hobbit.
    It takes my awesome imagination and exchanges it for someone else’s. Now forever, Elrond will be Agent Smith in my mind’s eye. Can’t get away from that.

  3. I’ve been in Tolkien-geek-glee all morning. Now I can start the game of ‘Who would I cast?’ with my friends.

  5. “The good news is, it’s going to take two whole films to contain its awesomeness.”
    It sounds to me that there’s only going to be one movie based on The Hobbit, and that the second movie is going to be some original work that is going to try and connect The Hobbit and the trilogy. That’s my interpretation, anyway.

  6. Dangit. He’s not writing.
    Is it too much to hope that at least Walsh and Boyens will do some script approvals?
    And Del Toro? Eh. I’d prefer Raimi. For all the schlock he’s produced, he has a great respect for PJ and plenty of experience shooting in NZ (having spent several years there with Herc and Xena.)

  7. “Jackson and Walsh envisioned the first film covering the events of “The Hobbit” and the second bridging the 80-year gap between that novel and the first “Lord of the Rings” book.”
    That to me, just completely sucks. This is a gap that does NOT need to be bridged.

  8. That to me, just completely sucks. This is a gap that does NOT need to be bridged.
    When I first read that in the article that was my reaction, too. But I think it’s an interesting idea. I trust Peter Jackson to stay true to the world. And if the Tolkien estate (or whoever approves an “official addition” to the world of Middle Earth not covered in a book) signs off on it then I wouldn’t have a problem going to see it.
    I won’t lie — the movies finally gave me the impetus to finish the books (I tried to read them when I was a teenager and never could get through them). I’m awfully thankful that they were made so well. I might not have discovered Tolkien’s work otherwise.
    Cheers!

  9. 2 More Movies for Lord of The Rings (kind of, hehe)

    Ok, so this is why I read other peoples blogs. Its so I can post the same (awesome) news they post from time to time (when its just so dang cool).
    Director Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc said on Tuesday…

  10. The bridge isn’t really original. IT’s going to be drawn from the insane amount of periphery/ancillary/notated material found in Tolkien’s works.
    Go to your favorite Borders of Barnes & Noble and look at the Tolkien section for an idea of where this material might be coming from.

  11. The LOTR appendices alone contain enough material for a movie. And there’s a wealth of info to be found in the History of Middle Earth volumes.
    Much of it isn’t laid out in story form, but talented writers should have no problem aping The Professor’s style in script form for this stuff. After all, a great deal of the stuff in the LOTR movies wasn’t specifically scripted in the books, and it turned out perfectly fine.

  12. It’s the one book I buy for people (nice version of it) when I want to give them something special.
    I always buy it for youth group members at my church at the end of each year, to encourage their understanding of fiction, and of good story telling. (Cause I think the Bible is a healthy mix of both.)

  13. There’s so much from Middle Earth that he could do. He could do stories from the Silmarillion, Histories of Middle Earth. He could do more on Isildore. He could make a career of Tolkein. I, too, am in Tolkein geek heaven today!

  14. The fact that he’s involved is enough for me. I’m sure there will be many connections and similarities between the LOTR films and the Hobbit. I just wish we didn’t have to wait so long…again! I remember the anticipation for The Fellowship of the Ring…that was a long wait!

  15. AMAZING!!!
    I swore that I would not go to see The Hobbit if it was not done by Jackson. My 6th grade English class read it, and afterwards we watched one of the animated movies. After only one day, our teacher got aggravated and asked us if we would rather have work, and we actually said yes. That is the only time I have ever had a gifted class request work instead of a movie, usually we avoid it like an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague (and we got quite good at it by the end of high school).
    The story I read said that Jackson was going to start working on whom to hire to direct and write, but that it was much more likely that he would not entrust anyone else to the job, and that he and Fran Walsh would end up doing it.
    I hope they already have an idea behind the sequel, because I never thought that there was a bridge necessary between the Hobbit and the trilogy. But, I would go see another movie based on any of Tolkien’s work.

  17. Is there a good precedent for only doing two movies in a series and not being tempted to do a third “just to make it a trilogy”?
    The only thing that comes immediately to mind is Ghostbusters 1 and 2.

  18. While it does seem strange to hav3e the 2nd film to more strongly link the films, I look at it this way, if it takes having even a sucky second film to be made because Newline has their eyes covered in a green tint then so be it.
    By the time everything has been packaged on HD/BluRay(or something else that pops up while they fight) we will all get to choose if we want to see it again, and see it in all the full glory(?).
    let’s just agree on one thing, it is time to start taking deep breaths and remember that there WILL be cuts from the book, and we MUST accept that ahead of time so we don’t get into the tizzy that the trilogy had to miss to get made

  20. I first read the hobbit and the whole trilogy in 6th grade. My Catholic school library had all of the books in this gigantic one special edition book. One of the special aspects of the book was a fold out map of middle earth. The book was made so that when you were reading the the book at a table, the map unfolded to your left about a 2ft by 2 ft. That way when you read, you could follow the characters progress on the map.
    When the first three movies came out, I saw them each Christmas with my parents. They were amazed that they Elvish was actually Gaelic they learned growing up in Ireland. My parents actually held hands during those scenes. Not long ago, they went to Austrailia to visit my dad’s sister. THey made a special trip to New Zealand to see the remains of the film’s sets in the countryside.
    I am very stoked to hear (especially from your blog) they are making The Hobbit. I look forward to it!!!
    Thanks for the good news, and I hope to order your new collection of stories soon!

  21. i got a serious “the froghurt is also cursed” vibe from your Hobbit post 😀
    I hope that Jackson will ease up on portraying dwarves as comic relief. Sure, the tea party is a light-hearted introduction to them but I want to see armies of them kick ass at the Lonely Mountain!
    As for potential directors, as much as I enjoy Raimi’s work give me the director of “Pan’s Labyrinth” over the guy who did “Spider-Man 3” any day of the week.

  22. How ’bout Tim Burton as director, and Johnny Dep as a pale, slightly crazed Sting-weilding barber of a Hobbit.
    I kid, I kid. But man I’d pay to see *that* film!

  23. I’m very excited about this. I loved The Hobbit and I was quite pleased with what Jackson did with the LOTR films. And as long as the right people are involved, I would love to see other Tolkien stories brought to the Silver Screen. I’m curious about who will direct. I agree with some above who suggest Del Toro would be a good choice.
    Hmm. If many films were made from Tolkien’s stories … ok, that is my new dream job: archivist and preservationist of films (and the related ephemera) based on Tolkien’s stories. I think I could move to New Zealand. (Tho I’ll likely end up at an under-funded audiovisual archive at a university here in the US).

  24. “The LOTR appendices alone contain enough material for a movie. And there’s a wealth of info to be found in the History of Middle Earth volumes.”
    Unless we’re talking about something completely different, the appendices deal with before and after LoTR. There is nothing from the end of the Hobbit leading up to the start of The Fellowship of the Ring.

  25. What excitement to know that another movie of Tolkien’s work will make the big screen.
    I believe that Guillermo Del Toro or Peter Jackson would give justice to the Tolkien’s story and be able to portray it in a impressive way. Great movies are few and far between, or so it has seemed lately. Yes, I am willing to wait for a great movie to watch.

  26. I dunno guys, is it fashionable to even admit to liking Tolkien’s work anymore? I thought it’d fallen out of fashion amongst hardcore film geeks – rather like Star Trek or Star Wars. Nevertheless, I still enjoy both Trek and LOTR, so I’m looking forward to see what PJ and co. come up with.

  27. This is very good news for a huge fan like me. Two films means there will be singing and dancing dwarves! Awesome.
    To keep it as true to the book as possible they have to have two films. There’s no doubt about it.
    More comments to follow.

  28. Have to lob my two cents in here.
    Based on past comments that Jackson has made I’d be much happier to see him working in a ‘Producer’ and ‘Quality Control’ role on this one. Wil, if you hadn’t heard he basically said that he wasn’t all that interested in ‘The Hobbit’ as a kids story because he felt that wasn’t very satisfying to him as a filmmaker and envisioned a ‘growed up’ version of the story (One that would have all kinds of crap dragged in from the periphery like the ‘White Council’ and ‘Aragorn’ and nonsense like that). There is no other way of putting it but admitting that this idea (if he still harbours it) is just – plain – stupid.
    The Hobbit is one of the best children’s stories ever written. Trying to go all ‘Lord of the Rings – Episode Zero’ on it would be a travesty (and in the past this is what Jackson has indicated a desire to do). So…unless Pjax can give his head a shake and do what he did with the Trilogy…which is to say ‘respect the material’ and stay with the spirit of the material he should back the hell off and leave it to someone who will do the story justice. It’s pretty obvious that both New Line and Jackson are completely aware of the giant boatload of money that is waiting for them (this ‘two film’ BS is so obviously about this it needs no elaboration)…let’s just hope their collective eyes stay on the story and not the prize.

  29. I’d tend to agree with Grondzilla… and I actually wonder if I’d like “The Hobbit” as a film. I did enjoy LotR after having read the books, I’m not certain about this one. Obviously, it will be an “extension” of the previous films. Who is ready to see Legolas next to his father, the King of Elves when the dwarves are captured? He’s not mentioned at all in “The Hobbit”, and I’m pretty sure PJ will attempt to hire Bloom for it.
    PS: if PJ contacts some writor-actor, I say go in 😛
    (Posting a comment is technically getting very difficult… multiple registrations :S)

  30. I agree with Grondzilla about The Hobbit being one of the best children’s stories, but it’s also just one of the best stories (or part of one of the best stories ever, depending on how you look at it). The Hobbit as a book is a story that’s been “filtered” (for lack of a better word) for children as well as “filtered” through Bilbo’s perceptions (being, as the premise is, based on his memoirs).
    I just picked up a copy of Unfinished Tales and damned if I didn’t hear Ian McKellan’s voice when I read The Quest of Erebor. It puts a wonderfully different spin on the opening of The Hobbit: how fatuous the dwarves thought Bilbo, how angry Thorin was with Gandalf, how Gandalf rationalized taking a hobbit with them before the quest even began, the dwarves getting the idea that Bilbo was a “professional thief”, etc. It provides a lot of the details on the back story that will no doubt be brought into the movie adaption. When you read the earlier version that includes the dialog between Gandalf and the dwarves you realize that in the context of the War of the Ring what Gandalf was doing was intentionally orchestrating a simultaneous strike at both Dol Guldur and Smaug.
    For the movie to basically follow the book and not really explain where Gandalf went off to and what he was doing just wouldn’t seem right from a cinematic story-telling perspective. It works in the book because the book is focused on Bilbo/based on his account and adds to the mystery surrounding Gandalf. Bringing in any of this back story at all instantly broadens the scope of the whole movie and practically requires including the White Council and the attack on Dol Guldur. I think it would work very well.

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