December 18th, 2007When Sauron Was Just the Necromancer: Jackson Will Produce The Hobbit
There’s great news in a press release from New Line today. Although New Line co-chairman Bob Shaye once said that Jackson would never make The Hobbit during his watch, Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have resolved their differences and Jackson is now slated to produce both The Hobbit and a sequel.
It’s unclear whether The Hobbit, or There and Back Again will be simply split into two parts or whether the backstory “The Quest of Erebor” (from Unfinished Tales) will also be incorporated.
Getting these films in reverse order from the books presents some interesting dilemmas. While The Lord of the Rings is dark and heavy, The Hobbit is more like a children’s bedtime story. If the film stays true to the original in tone, it will seem a bit of an anti-climax. Saving the world vs. helping some dwarves get some treasure back from a dragon?
Those familiar with only the Lord of the Rings will remember the you-shall-not-pass, Balrog-facing Gandalf the White who seems to steer the fate of Middle-earth. The Gandalf we know from the Hobbit, as seen though Bilbo’s eyes, spends more time blowing smoke rings, helping dwarves recover treasure and hanging out with Hobbits than saving the world. Of course, the trilogy reveals the greater story, but it will be interesting to see how this is handled.
My hopes:
There is plenty of material in The Hobbit alone for two films, so let’s pray we don’t lose interesting plot elements in the interest of time concerns while simultaneously ending up with long, panning shots of the ring twirling through the air as filler.
Dwarves of Middle-earth are not bumbling sidekicks. Though I understand the need for comic relief, I was disappointed with how far Gimli from the movies leans in this direction. The Hobbit is full of dwarves, so their personalities will have to be truer to the original than poor Gimli’s.
Ian McKellen. There’s no mention of casting in the press release, but in my head, he is Gandalf, so a re-cast would be a little tough to swallow.
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
nice work, dude