 Ring Ping!! |
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Posted on 12/18/2007 8:50:25 AM PST by Abathar
NEW YORK - Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached agreement to make J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," a planned prequel to the blockbuster trilogy "The Lord of the Rings."
Jackson, who directed the "Rings" trilogy, will serve as executive producer for "The Hobbit." A director for the prequel films has yet to be named.
Relations between Jackson and New Line had soured after "Rings," despite a collective worldwide box office gross of nearly $3 billion — an enormous success. The two sides nevertheless were able to reconcile, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) splitting "The Hobbit" 50/50, spokemen for both studios said Tuesday.
"I'm very pleased that we've been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line," Jackson said in a statement. "We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth."
Two "Hobbit" films are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, similar to how the three "Lord of the Rings" films were made. Production is set to begin in 2009 with a released planned for 2010, with the sequel scheduled for a 2011 release.
New Line Cinema is owned by Time Warner. Sony and Comcast are among the owners of MGM.
I like The Hobbit even better than the LOTR trilogy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04
Shouldn’t we issue a “Smaug” Alert?
LOL I have that bookmarked, just to watch my friends jaw drop when they see it for the first time.
!!!!
ping!
Yippy!
Yay!
This just made my day! I’m SO very very very happy right now!
I don’t want to see any movie directed by Peter Jackson again.
Tolkien fans here. We read the books many years ago, and the LOTR movies are well-made, without a doubt.
But, skip forward about halfway in this Charlie Rose interview to see Viggo, with nods of agreement from Peter and Elijah, talk about the “War for Oil” and how the U.S. is the evil one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHyrADFhNZw
I wish Jackson was directing but at least he’ll be involved. Other than the obvious reason (money), why are they milking this into two films? The story isn’t that long.
I wonder why the Hobbit was not made first? It is the key to understanding the trilogy and many of the characters.
I also enjoyed the Havard Lampoon version of the Hobbit ... with characters like Dildo Baggins, Frito, and Goodgulf.
Oh - this is good news!
Oh Lordy..... :)
Ring Ping!! |
Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.
Sam Raimi had expressed interest, but only if Jackson were involved. This clears the way for that.
Entmoot 2012 here we come!
Good, more room in line for the rest of us.
Woot!
Woohoo!
Hmmm... ~two~ movies? [sigh]
Does Peter know how to milk a story or doesn’t he? :-)
~meanwhile~...
Then there’ll be both a theatrical and an extended DVD set. And we’ll buy them. :-)
"There" and "Back Again"
We’ll wait in line to buy them :~)
Well, we don’t know that PJ isn’t directing yet. It just hasn’t be decided yet. That might be to do with PJ’s busy schedule with the major Tintin project with Spielberg coming up.
Plum pitiful, ain’t we? ;-)
;-)
In any case, it's good news.
“The Hobbit” and “The Hobbit 2”
I wonder where they’ll split the storyline? Or maybe they’ll have some filler after Bilbo returns leading up to the LOTR timeline.
regardless, it’s a couple of years off, and the extended DVDs even further :-(
New Line is in serious financial trouble (too many expensive flops) and needs the guaranteed cash infusion "The Hobbit" will bring in.
Yes! Yes! Yes!!!
*doing the happy dance*
It’s about time! Thanks for the ping! :o])
I can NOT wait!!!
So they're not brilliant when it comes to foreign policy. I don't see any of them out there dissing the troops, or making big stinks about the War on Terror, so I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist about it.
Since there are so many different characters in “The Hobbit”, who the director is may not be as important. The producer makes sure all the pieces are in place, and having Peter do that will keep the same tone as the trilogy, and can be set up as a ‘prequel’
We can go to the theater to see The Hobbit, then come back to the house and watch the Extended Trilogy over the following days!!
I’m not leaving early this time...
Peter Jackson admitted it would have been easy to infuse boht the Lord of the Rings and King Kong with political themes. He absolutley refused to do that because he flet it wasn’t a necessary par tof the story.
I don’t give a whit what his politics, so long as he keeps it to himslef and doesn’t use the medium of movies as a way to promote his personal political agenda.
The guy is extremely talented when it comes to making movies. And that is fine with me.
Where shall we have it this time?
I see two big possibilities -- after being rescued by the eagles after fleeing the orcs, or after the dwarves are captured by the Mirkwood elves. (BTW: Legolas cameo? In the books he's the son of the king of the Mirkwood/Greenwood elves...)
Well, there are fewer and fewer of us left on the right coast...
bump
Neither are we!
If it's in summer, the Rockies would be nice.
I’m guessing Jackson will be calling the shots and directing. I’m surprised they worked it out, but I guess they all decided it had to happen, and better now than later. Hopefully WETA will do the effects.
HA! This is The Silver Lining to the Godless Compass fiasco! New Line is desperate to recoup their losses!
Hey, whatever it takes to get Peter Jackson back on board, I’ll take it!
Viggo is a left-wing nut alright. But what do expect from a guy who grew up in Denmark and Argentina? A left-wing nut!
Hollywood Insider spoke with MGM CEO Harry Sloan about the details.
EW: You must be delighted that this project is finally moving forward.
HARRY SLOAN: Ecstatic. It’s a great day for MGM and New Line, and to have two Hobbit movies with Peter Jackson, really, I couldn’t imagine anything better happening around Christmastime this year.
Can you talk about how this came together? Did this just happen overnight or the last few days?
Well, you know, nothing happens overnight. MGM has always said, and taken a firm position, that we want Peter to be involved, and we have to compliment and be very gratified that [New Line’s Bob Shaye and Michael Lyne] and Peter were able to put their differences aside for the good of these movies. We saw that take place over the last six months. I wouldn’t say it was instant by any means.
Have Peter Jackson and New Line resolved the lawsuit?
Yes, they have. That was part of it, because it wouldn’t have been a good atmosphere.
Peter Jackson did say all along that he didn’t want to go into a new deal without having settled the lawsuit.
And, of course, it added a level of complexity to putting the whole deal together. But I think the most important thing was for the participants, for Peter and Bob and Michael, to first get talking and start focusing on what great work they had accomplished together. That began to build a bridge toward cooperation on resolving the lawsuit and, of course, making a deal for Peter to oversee these two movies out of the Hobbit property.
Can you tease us with who might be in line to direct? Guillermo Del Toro, Sam Raimi...
Well, those are the names that have been mentioned and they’re both top directors, excellent directors. It’s Peter’s project. Peter and Bob Shaye are going to oversee it creatively but in the end ... our choice had always been Peter. But if after he and Fran [Walsh, Jackson’s wife] and whoever they work with develop the script, if Peter feels comfortable and Bob feels comfortable with another director, then there will be another director.
Is there any chance that Peter could direct the Hobbit sequel?
Well, he could direct either of them.
He’s been busy with The Lovely Bones, so has it been a scheduling thing?
Well, he’s got Lovely Bones, he’s got Tin Tin, he’s got two or three projects, but it is the right time for him to devote his intentions to developing the property and the script with himself and Fran and maybe other writers as well. And once the property is developed and there’s a picture that’s ready to go, he may consider directing it — although the second film might be more likely due to scheduling.
Does Peter have the right to refuse a director for this one, or script approval?
Neither us nor New Line would want to hire a director that Peter was not completely comfortable with. Remember it’s Peter’s project, he’s overseeing it. So I don’t want to tell you what’s legally in the contract.... But we wouldn’t do that.
This must be a good time for New Line to land this project, given that Golden Compass hasn’t done well. Did that play any sort of a role in getting this to come through at this point in time?
They can speak for themselves. But from my point of view, I’d say no because I think we were well on our way to having The Hobbit set to be developed and go into production long before Golden Compass opened.
Well, I’m sure they’re happy now. It’s good timing.
Look, any time perhaps the world’s greatest franchise has the opportunity to live on is good timing. That’s how we feel. We’re blessed every time we get another James Bond movie up and running.
With those two franchises, how challenging is it going to be with the writers’ strike, if it continues to go on into the New Year, and there’s also the SAG negotiations next year.
We start shooting the new James Bond movie Jan. 7, and we’ll be done before [a potential] actors’ strike, so it won’t affect James Bond. As far as The Hobbit, yes, it’s going to have an affect because we need the strike to get settled. We’ve got Peter Jackson, which is the biggest point here, but now Peter and the other writers who will be involved can’t write. So we’ve got to get this strike settled.
Any word on who would star in The Hobbit, or any expectations? I know a lot of the previous LOTR actors who would be able to have a role in The Hobbit have said that they would only be on board if Peter Jackson was.
Yeah, I think Peter stayed in touch. I think Peter’s been in touch over time with the other actors and is close with them and they’re close with him, so I think we’d be hopeful that some would reappear.
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2007/12/mgm-ceo-on-the.html
I definitely hope there’s a Legolas cameo, that would just be awesome, and it would fit just fine without haing to twist the story or anything.
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