Peter Jackson WILL make two "Hobbit" films

Gear calls it. Shaye had been blustering about 'never working with Jackson again!' and all that earlier this year. Financial writing on the wall here -- combined with the fact that Jackson doesn't *need* Shaye at all anymore, whereas ten years back it was a completely different story -- means this is just a handy business decision on Jackson's part where Shaye is freaking out a bit.

So all these announcements only confirm Jackson to exec produce the movies, does that mean he's not directing?

Probably. I'll bet anything that was Shaye's core demand too!

there are other books, y'know

Uh-huh. Unfinished Tales: The Movie.

This whole thing reads like "We have the rights, we're desperate, can we please license the trappings of the LOTR production without having to work directly much with Jackson?" and Jackson going, "Hey, cash and work for the WETA team! Sure!"

Silmarillion?

am I alone in thinking that it's going to be an uphill battle trying to make that last film seem exciting to the average moviegoer? "here, we've cobbled bits and pieces from unfinished manuscripts, in order to bridge...zzzzzz."

in fact I think the whole idea of "bridging" rarely translates that well into compelling film.

I thought they just meant that it would take two movies to tell the whole Hobbit tale.

or the Hobbit tale including material from other books, some of which may precede the book itself

Perhaps the sequel will be Bilbo at home, cooking. Special guest star: Martha Stewart.

I thought they just meant that it would take two movies to tell the whole Hobbit tale.

Terrifying thought.

The Slimeamillion.

That's the porn title settled.

Jackson's lawsuit was for ~$100mn - I wonder what he got in the settlement?

the ring

I think the Hobbit story could easily be stretched into two 4-hour epics.

There could be at least 35 minutes of them floating in elfin wine barrels down a CIG river.

I have an idea for the second Hobbit movie:

Middle Earth Christmas Special!

That should have said CGI river. A cig river would be really gross though.

2nd movie will be Bilbo & Tom Bombadil in Cheech & Chong-like pipeweed comedy

Bilbo & Tom Go to White Castle

but it would be an ACTUAL white castle

yes!

With Neil Patrick Harris making an appearance as a randy elf

Lindsay Lohan as goldberry

k I wd watch that

shaye you fuckin pussy, why let this fat, beady crepe anywhere near a film set? thank god he's only "exec-producing" (collecting cheques).

the hobit : even simpler pr0n parody title?

The Hit It

He's never going to top Meet the Feebles, is he?

He topped that with Heavenly Creatures already. I don't really understand the Peter Jackson hate. Sure, he's not an auteur or anything, but he's been making consistently good, entertaining film for 20 years now, there isn't a single bad movie in his filmography. Even the ones that are not-great (Bad Taste, Frighteners, King Kong) have lots of great moments in them.

there isn't a single bad movie in his filmography.

i dunno if they're out where you are bro, but he did these shitty-ass dungeons & dragons pics three years straight. and then he did fucking king kong.

If you think those are actually bad movies, I'd say you haven't seen a lot of movies. All of them worked very well within their genre.

Head, hands, yada yada yada

http://i.today.reuters.com/pictures/galleries/Stories/633260111339375000/Previews/08_RTR1L11X.jpg

essentially, he can't write dialogue, he can't avoid his own bad cgi company. he's got a great eye for backgrounds, that's about it.

I read the book and still had no idea wtf was going on in the movies. An integral part of the book is following their path on a map, but Jackson didn't bother with maps. Also, the whole worship/appreciation of earth and nature was pretty much obliterated for the movies.

First film: THERE
Second film: AND BACK AGAIN

I am so so fucking stoked on this. Bully for you, PJ!

He'll probably expand the whole ring bit to make it fit the LOTR stuff.

Abbott wins?

Jackson didn't bother with maps

Not true. Maps crop up at various times throughout the films.

Also, the whole worship/appreciation of earth and nature was pretty much obliterated for the movies.

Are you sure? I thought that point was beaten in pretty well. I mean, long shots of the bad guys destroying forests all willy-nilly? And more time than needed spent on the trees fighting back? It was most definitely there.

Yeah, the main bit I like is the lush pastoral idyll at the beginning of Fellowship.

Maybe they'll just be two 1.5 hour films ala the Rankin-Bass ones, minus the songs and the obvious cuts for commercials.

will he portray gandalf as a scheming, fireworks-shooting weirdo guy who keeps pulling disappearing acts, or will he hint at the dark shit he's off doing during those times, stuff that was only revealed--and probably even conceived by the author--later?

20 minutes of the first is a crazy smoke-shapes blowing contest that turns into something like "Pink Elephants on Parade" in Dumbo.

Half hour CGI spider-fight.

Bilbo all hating on poor care of dishes for 15 minutes.

Who will play Bilbo? And he'll be like Frodo-age in this one?

http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2006/0605/hoffman0508.jpg

Bilbo is slightly older than Frodo if I remember right. He comes across that way.

Controversial casting of Verne Troyer to save on CGI bill?

Half hour CGI spider-fight.

-- The blue-green world is drenched with horse gore, Wednesday, December 19, 2007 10:11 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

^^^^^

lols

except: HE'S ONLY FUCKING EXEC-PRODUCING!!!! BFD!!!!!

Hahaha I was gonna suggest P.S. Hoffman!

Bilbo was older than Frodo in LOTR, but Hobbit is all about his begrudgingly Tookish youthful adventures.

GOBLIN should do the soundtrack.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2248286,00.html

Okay, I'm interested again.

I'd be more than fine with that.

Smaug with eight thousands eyes all over him...

Del Toro would be a popular choice with commentators and Tolkien fans alike. He has an excellent pedigree in fantasy with Pan's Labyrinth and did decent work on the comic book adaptations Hellboy and Blade II.

weird editorializing...

I bet it will have a framing device revealing that Middle Earth is in fact the hallucination of a child caught up in the Spanish Civil War.

"I, Gandalf, cannot make the journey here, but my associate Hellboy has kindly indicated he's available."

hellboy was fken awesome. fuck a pans labyrinth tho.

(and fuck 'the hobbit' obviously.)

controversial!

it is still weird that they are considering filling in the story between the two.

first 30 mins of hellboy is pretty awes then it gets pretty lame. especially when the pretty boy other protag gets brought in.

Official

you talking about the new Hellboy, slocki?

Surely he means the first. The new one doesn't come out until, what, June or something?

hellboy is awesome if you don't expect much more from it than SMASHING NAZIS.
fuck blade II though! backhanded compliment, to just mention that one rite?

I don't remember another pretty boy protag in Hellboy, though. I R confused.

Hellboy is just about the best comic book adaptation to date. It's careful with fx, solidly entertaining, and it never gets all self-important or overstays it's welcome.

del toro cares about his characters as much as the spectacle and makes nature look sexy, so he's basically Peter Jackson hopefully minus the slow motion hobbit dancing in white pajamas. best thing that could have happened.

I, for one, am geeking out.

Plz to be holding yr horses: Tolkien estate sues

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7240421.stm

in hellboy 1 they bring in some other dude as a ostensible audience-identifiable dude character and he kind of sucks. after a great opening the movie really peters out.

in hellboy 1 they bring in some other dude as a ostensible audience-identifiable dude character and he kind of sucks.

He was like Josh Hartnett except even more lame.

I can't even begin to imagine.

Shaye and Lynne out at New Line, Jackson gets the last laugh.

And now officially official. Peter Jackson and Tom Ewing Guillermo del Toro celebrate:

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-04/38196386.jpg

I do love how Guillermo is as much a geek as the rest -- he even posted on theonering.net forums about it.

this is a good choice, this will make them feel significantly different from the rings movies in feel and look. it's interesting that del toro is actually a much darker director and the hobbit is so much lighter in tone.

still can't accept non-fattey Peter Jackson

Don't worry. Del Toro will get him on some enchiladas right quick.

Come on, give the man his money, it's a contract from 1969.

http://www.guesswhichmovie.com/news/280

Also: how does this tie in with the production of another movie?

Transcript of a webchat with Jackson and Del Toro here: http://www.wetanz.com/holics/index.php?itemid=695&catid=2#more

I'm just pleased to be getting Gandalf the Grey back for two more movies. Ian and I loved him best. We were a little sad when the Gandy the White took over.

hahaha, Oh man. I think this is the polite way of saying they found 'Gandy the White' bor-ring.