The Hobbit…Finally
Well, it looks like New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson have finally made nice. For those who don’t keep up, Peter Jackson directed a small trilogy you may be familiar with, and it made some money. Jackson’s deal with New Line stated he was entitled to a percent of the profits. New Line’s Accountant Ninjas (which are much more deadly than the Lawyer variety) added up the math, and decided that Jackson’s movies actually did not make any money! Then they turned around to their stockholders, and cheered about all the money they made. Jackson sued New Line. New Line holds the film rights to Tolkien’s books though, so there can be no Hobbit film without New Line. And really, who the hell could imagine another Tolkien adapation without Jackson on board? Now, Jackson and New Line have put all this behind them (I imagine a sackful of cash was handed to Jackson). Whether Jackson will direct The Hobbit or not is up in the air, but he’s definitely producing.
It’s been years since I’ve read The Hobbit, but it is much more of children’s story than LotR’s was. Despite this, the film is being planned as a duology. It will be interesting to see Jackson make a children’s movie (and it will be even more fun to hear all the fanboys bitch and moan about it).
Hola Dizzle. Seeing as you don’t have my email…Brett showed me your site last night. Since the filters at work don’t devour it I might as well add my two cents.
I suppose this movie was inevitable (and the fact they want to split it into more than one film isn’t surprising). I never actually read the book. Then again I don’t read a lot in general. I did however listen to it on CD once. There’s never a lot to do when I make the 3 hour drive back and forth from Brunswick.
The story must not have been that endearing because I don’t remember much of it. If someone were to start recalling parts of it…everything might come back to me. I’m sure I’ll go see this movie but I’m not too excited about it. Middle-earth is coming back so fast that it’s going to run into the overwhelming wave of fantasy it created in its wake the first time through. The market seems a little saturated…
Kind of hoped Peter and his WETA boys would tackle something else…like the penniless Halo project or that Evangelion live action movie that’s been in development hell since 03′. Jackson probably has enough cash now to front his own blockbuster. What’ca gona do though? Perhaps he’ll make a habit of doing a few safe movies before trying oddities like Kong.
Anyway…welcome to the world of online bitching and moaning.
Phil said this on December 19, 2007 at 9:46 am
Phil,
Thanks for the warm welcome, and for commenting!
I agree that I want to see Jackson and WETA do something different, as I’m not really sure what can be gained. I think a large part of what made LotR so special is that none of us had ever quite seen that world before on film, and Jackson’s vision of it was absolutely pitch perfect. While there were minor flaws here and there (Legolas) you have to give props to Jackson for having what is essentially a 10 hour film with only a few sore spots. But why revisit that world when we’ve already seen it? Seems the only place to go is down.
I’d love to see Jackson tackle a balls-to-the-wall actioner like Halo, or something a little more cerebral with Eva. Anyways, there’s no guarantee he will direct, there’s a very real possibility he may farm out direction duties to some protege, while he focuses on other movies.
lostinthecosmos said this on December 21, 2007 at 2:14 am