'Rings' Director Wants to Bring 'Hobbit' to Screen

Yahoo News ^ | 12/8/03 | Emma Thomasson

[Siamese Princess]

The only thing that bothered me about Mortenson was his nasal speech. Sometimes he pushes the words so hard through his nose, he becomes almost unintelligible. Good action scenes though.

In the interviews he doesn't come across as very bright, which might explain his searching for meaning at an ANSWER rally.

There is a thread on Warofthering.net needling Mortensen for his nasal speech and propensity for mumbling his words. Also check out his greeting on the official website -- he's practically unintelligible. On top of that is his tendency to ramble when he speaks or writes (read the introduction he wrote for The Two Towers Visual Companion.

He strikes me as a man who has smoked too much weed in his life and its largely destroyed whatever brain cells he ever possessed.

[from occupied ga]

Mortensen is just another example of why actors should never ever say anything in public unless it's from a script. They get a lot of fan appreciation they become popular, and pretty soon they confuse popularity with wisdom which of course they wouldn't if they were wise in the first place

[Lil'freeper]

That's got my vote!

[A. Pole]

New Zealand film director Peter Jackson (news), tipped to win an Oscar for his "The Lord of the Rings" epic, said Monday he would like to make "The Hobbit" prequel to the trilogy and work with some of the same actors again.

Mr. Jackson, please! The Hobbit is much shorter and is perfect for faithful implementation. You can do the film without ANY change to the story (maybe with some adjustments to be in sync with already filmed LOTR). Please - the book is beautiful and you can follow it exactly. I promise to go to see the film three times if you do it that way :)

Film can be a littler longer since the viewer base is already established, so no major cuts are necessary.

[Sloth]

Whether the actor likes it or not, Aragorn is a character that is fighting real evil and uses a sword to solve problems. Perhaps the actor could learn something from his character.

Aragorn to Theoden: "Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not."

[Jim Cane]

I really, really hope you're kidding. For one thing, Bilbo was 50 years old at the time of The Hobbit.

Yes, but Hobbits age very slowly, and 30somethings are considered "teens". A 50 year old Hobbit is like a young buck.

[Jim Cane]

You want SpiderMan to play me?!

There you are! I didn't see you down there. :^)

Yes, a hobbit with spidey senses is just the thing this hobbit needs to take on Shelob-class arachnids.

[tiamat]

Did you know that Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were drinking buddies?

They met when Lewis was still an atheist and had a great time arguing about the Whichness of What.

I LOVED the Narnia books as a kid. Someone gave them to me when I was hospitlased undergoing some very painful and extensive back surgery ( Six weeks in full traction and a surgery every 10 days is no joke! ) With those books, though, I couldd get away from what was happening to me and I was in Narnia. I reread the Fellowship during the same time, and noticed some similarity in flavor which i did not figure out til later.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Uncle who gave me The Hobbit for my 10 birthday and for the friend who gave me the Narnia series... both of those helped set me on a lifetime of happy geekdom! ;-)

Tia

[GretchenEE]

Re your #1 post, I think if they'd had more time to think the thing through and work it through, TTT would have risen to the beauty of FotR. TTT paid the price for being sandwiched between what had to be blockbusting films at either end. Too bad.

I always have a let down feeling when I watch it. I know that is not what all their hard work went for. FotR, on the other hand, affects me quite differently (for the better).

[k2blader]

Woohoo!!!

And agreed, "Fellowship" was better than "Towers".

But what's wrong with Arwen?

[Xthe17th]

Ian Holm made a terrific older Bilbo in FotR, but I agree, he wouldn't be able to pull off the younger Bilbo.

NOT TRUE! Remember, the ring has greatly slowed Bilbo's aging process. Look at the difference between Bilbo at the beginning of FOTR and at Rivendell. He's 111 years old but looks 50 - the age he would about be in The Hobbit.

[Charles Henrickson]

I'm 50! I don't look as old as Ian Holm, even in the finding-the-ring flashback! Ian Holm is now 72. Even a ring of power wouldn't help him play the younger Bilbo over the course of a whole film.

[Xthe17th]

Ian Holm is now 72. ...play the younger Bilbo over the course of a whole film.

You're right. I didn't know he was that old and hadn't thought about the perspective of playing the part of lead character (with action sequences) for an entire film. I'm sure Kiwiwood can find someone who resembles Mr. Holm... or at least create someone via make-up, prosthetics, special effects as New Line is so adept at. I'm certain it'll happen - at least by 2006.

[nutmeg]

FYI (you may have already seen this)