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

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

[KantianBurke]

BERLIN (Reuters) - 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.

Speaking to journalists in Berlin ahead of the European premiere of the last part of the "Rings" trilogy -- "The Return of the King" -- Jackson said he was sad but also relieved that the mammoth project he has worked on for seven years was over.

"I'm glad there's not a fourth Lord of the Rings film next year," he said. "I feel very tired and exhausted."

"I've been working very hard this year. It was the hardest year of the whole seven really," he said, adding that the last part had twice as many computer-generated shots as the second, "The Two Towers," which won an Oscar for digital effects.

"It's my favorite because it has a stronger emotional depth than the other two films, it has a sense of closure," he said.

Despite his exhaustion, Jackson is not resting on his laurels and said if complex rights issues can be resolved he would like to direct "The Hobbit," J.R.R. Tolkien's prequel to the "Rings" trilogy set some 50 years earlier.

"I'd be interested in doing it because I think it would give continuity to the overall chapter," he said.

While many of the lead "Rings" characters do not appear in "The Hobbit" story, the wizard Gandalf, played by Ian McKellen (news), and Gollum, the cave dweller corrupted by the powerful ring, do and should make a comeback. Arwen, the elf princess played by Liv Tyler (news), could also feature again, Jackson said. (UGH! WTF?)

STAND TEST OF TIME

Jackson made movie history by filming all three parts of the "Rings" trilogy simultaneously. The first two films have earned a combined $1.8 billion and won a total of six Oscars (news - web sites).

Barrie Osborne, the producer of the trilogy, and Philippa Boyens, the writer, both said they hoped for more Oscars for the third installment, especially one for Jackson's directing.

"The film is a memorable film that will stand the test of time and be around forever and ever. However winning depends on what's happening in the world, what other films are out there that you're competing with," Osborne said.

Boyens added: "Peter didn't make these films to win an Oscar...It's always been really hard for fantasy films or films perceived as fantasy to get that kind of acknowledgement."

Jackson, 42, has certainly not let fame go to his head. He met journalists in an upmarket Berlin hotel barefoot and wearing a faded shirt and threadbare shorts. While he said "Rings" was the hardest thing he would ever do, more challenges await.

"I just love making movies. I have done since I was seven years old," he said.

Jackson will take a few weeks off over Christmas and then start writing the script for his next project, a remake of the classic "King Kong" which, like the "Rings," he will also film in New Zealand, using the same team of special effects experts.

Richard Taylor, whose special effects workshop made 48,000 props for the trilogy and whose work earned two Oscars, says "King Kong" will be even better than Lord of the Rings.

"I have every aspiration to make King Kong much cooler," he said. "It's going to be a very beautiful film."

[Charles Henrickson]

. . . they will need a different actor to play a younger Bilbo. Bilbo won't look quite the same in The Hobbit as he does in FotR when he finds the ring, but I can live with that.

I thought Ian Holm made a terrific older Bilbo in FotR, but I agree, he wouldn't be able to pull off the younger Bilbo. The flashback in FotR, where he was made up to look younger, was OK for that purpose, but it wouldn't hold up over the course of a whole film.

[genew]

I'd be more impressed when he films the Silmarillion.

The profits from LOTR would be much better spent on The Silmarillion than on The Hobbit.

Were it created for the right venue, the profits reaped from the endeavor would be even more astounding than those from LOTR, IMHO.

[HairOfTheDog]

Stuart Townsend was originally cast and actually filmed some scenes.... the official story is they realized when they saw him on film that they had cast Aragorn with too 'young' an actor.

[Prof Engineer]

Get a life

[PLMerite]

Well, as Jackson said, LOTR as written is unfilmable. You'd be putting out a three-hour movie for each of the six parts and it'd be like waiting for the final three chapters of Star Wars - you'll never see them.

Maybe one day somebody can do it as a tv miniseries. Twenty-two one-hour episodes might just be enough. With CGI they could just about pull it off.

I am disappointed about Bombadil, though. One of my favorite lines from the ROTK is where Gnandalf says he and Bombadil are going to have a long talk as they have never had.

[weegee]

Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Rubens had a hobby collecting pornography (antique erotica and modern amateur photos like the one of actor Jeffery Jones with a boy). His hobby will extend to a substantial boycott of his films.

I will not be boycotting the final LOTR film and will buy it on DVD as well. I am just pointing out that there are "hobbies" that will cause people to boycott a film even if it is only the action of one supporting player. And again I say that his actions do not constitute a "hobby". He voiced this garbage when he was interviewed on PBS, he doesn't just leave it in the streets. If he is going to talk politics while he is pimping a movie he is in, he may find that some people will not financially support his fifth column endevors.

[Search4Truth]

"I won't.... It is a great bit of work they did, and a fine story that personifies all the values we are fighting for. I support the troops where it matters, and I don't think boycotting Lord of the Rings is one of those places."

I agree. If it were not for the outstanding redeeming qualities of the LOTR trilogy, an important and timely story, I would be boycotting the movie too. Instead I'm singling out the actor and doing my best to see that his support of America's enemies does not escape the attentions of future movie going Americans.

[Sloth]

I agree that TTT was a load of pig crap (they should have stuck to what happened in the book instead of throwing in a bunch of stuff that didn't happen), but the Extended Edition makes it a much better film.

Agreed. The additional stuff with Faramir/Denethor/Boromir, for instance, makes Faramir's characterization & the dumb detour to Osgiliath a little easier to swallow.

[ClearCase_guy]

Excellent comments on the characterization of Aragorn. I completely agree and I'll just add that I've been surprised how few people comment on the change. In the book, Aragorn is focused like a laser beam on the kingship. It's the only way he can win Arwen.

Of course the Aragorn/Arwen storyline is a re-telling of Beren and Luthien. Beren is given a hopeless task (retrieving a Silmaril) in order to win Luthien. And Beren never hesitates. Aragorn repeats that single-minded pursuit, never doubting, never losing hope that through some miracle, Sauron will be defeated and the kingship will be restored. But (alas) in the movie, Aragorn is a different man.

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

Arwen, the elf princess played by Liv Tyler (news), could also feature again, Jackson said. (UGH! WTF?)

I agree, Jackson and the 2 women that worked with him on the screenplay have done a wonderful job....EXCEPT for their irrational desire to "create strong female characters" otherwise known as hacking up the plot and altering beyond recognition Tolken's original flow of the story. There is a reason Arwen is such a minor character in the book; she isn't needed for the plot to progress.

You don't edit Tolkien.

[Search4Truth]

"But what about Sean Astin, who plays Sam Gamgee in LOTR? Are we allowed to support him? Or is it your position that if there is anyone anywhere in the cast or crew of a movie that expresses an anti-American position, we're not supposed to watch it? Gimme a break."

Do whatever your conscience dictates.

[tiamat]

There is no good way to do the thing justice....

Unless of course we had unlimited money, unlimited time and people who truly loved the books to make the thing! :-)

I like your mini-series idea, and I am glad that someone ELSE misses Tom Bombadill

Tia

[HairOfTheDog]

I called it a hobby because he is currently being paid ot act, and not for his political opinion. He may indeed go over the the threshold and become more annoying. Anyone can become annoying and I won't want to see them on my free time, but as yet he isn't going to ruin this film for me, I have been waiting three years for this ending. Maybe later if his 'hobby' becomes more than just a side interest that doesn't get very much press, it might affect whether I go out of my way to see him. I am not loyal now to him, but to the work as a whole and all the players that made it so beautiful.

[sphinx]

Just finished the Director's commentary on my TTT extended DVD. Jackson & Co. defended their choices quite well.

Incidentally, did you catch the acknowledgment that they have had second thoughts about their handling of Faramir? The comment was made by the women sitting in with PJ during the directors' commentaries. The gist was that they were trying to flesh out Faramir with backstory and perhaps "lessened the character by expanding him," which I think is a pretty fair assessment.

I'm not inclined to be overly critical on this point. They had to make many judgment calls. I'm sure there are more than one they'd like to have back, but you can't second guess yourself forever.

[Conan the Librarian]

I told my wife just the other day that they should do the Hobbit properly. I guess I am a visionary!

How bout a mini series on the Silmarilian?

[BibChr]

Would you agree that the movie version's Gandalf and Sam, maybe alone, are virtually spot-on in capturing the book's characters virtually to a "t"? (Frodo is close, IMHO, but not quite.)

Again, hoping to avoid lectures, I AM NOT saying I don't enjoy, appreciate, and/or understand the other characterizations. Well, except Faramir; I think I'm pretty well on-record about that one.

Dan

[BibChr]

Oh, and Bilbo.

[billbears]

Well it all boils down to this. Am I going to stop myself from seeing a movie that is probably the closest thing I will ever see to Tolkien's Middle Earth on film just because one of the actors said something you disagree with?Granted if it was the entire movie that had some sort of slant that Tolkien did not envision I could partially agree with your point.

Good grief, I imagine given enough time and resources I could sit around and find something from many that could be considered un-'conservative'. But I choose to live my life and enjoy something I have waited literally decades to see

[BibChr]

Yes, thanks.

Oh, though, you do give me cause to praise a basically made-up scene that I think goes well with the book, even though (I think) it's a total J-B-W fabrication. The scene of Elrond and Arwen, where he is relentlessly pursuing her to dissuade her from her choice of Aragorn. Very powerful, very dramatic and, I think, not untrue to the book.

Dan

[Jotmo]

Bump.