The Hobbit and planned sequel Discussion

[The Legonater]

I heard somewhere that a fourth LotR movie was in the works, the Hobbit, based off the final book to be done. Could someone pleasy verify this? thank you.

[CMP]

I heard somewhere that a fourth LotR movie was in the works, the Hobbit, based off the final book to be done. Could someone pleasy verify this? thank you.

When?

[jp-30]

Two movies to be made based on The Hobbit. Produced by Peter Jackson, but directed this time by Guillermo del Toro.

All the info you could want is here;

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/hobbitfaq/

[The Legonater]

Two movies to be made based on The Hobbit. Produced by Peter Jackson, but directed this time by Guillermo del Toro.

All the info you could want is here;

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/hobbitfaq/

Thanks JP. I hope they don't entirely ruin the series.

[Calanon]

They've already started on some parts of the film set, such as cleaning up the Hobbit holes.

One thing I would like to say, is that The Hobbit is not the final book. It was written before The Lord of the Rings, and could be read purely on it's own without any real cliff hanger to make you want to read LotR.

Seeing as the film comes in two parts, I hope they make the film a lot more true to the book, and I hope Howard Shore is the music composer for the film.

[Commander Assassin]

Here's the IMDB page. I'm not sure if it is more information than the other link, but IMDB is trusted for info.

[Bobskink]

Thanks JP. I hope they don't entirely ruin the series.

It's from existing book (which I prefer over LOTR), a book which existed before LOTR, so the chanse that they screw everything up like george Lucas did is not that big. But with Holywood you never know.

[The Legonater]

They've already started on some parts of the film set, such as cleaning up the Hobbit holes.

One thing I would like to say, is that The Hobbit is not the final book. It was written before The Lord of the Rings, and could be read purely on it's own without any real cliff hanger to make you want to read LotR.

Seeing as the film comes in two parts, I hope they make the film a lot more true to the book, and I hope Howard Shore is the music composer for the film.

I know it's not the last, I said it's the final too be done.

[yellost]

It's from existing book (which I prefer over LOTR), a book which existed before LOTR, so the chanse that they screw everything up like george Lucas did is not that big. But with Holywood you never know.

Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that : from what I've read, the first of the two films will be the adaptation of The Hobbit, while the second one will be something to them to the LotR trilogy. So now, most people are wondering what will actually be in that second film. And that's where the screw-everything-up-like-GL-did might come in (although Tolkien did write quite an extensive history of his Middle-Earth, so they still have lots of guidelines to follow)...

Now there're even rumors about it being in 3D. At least if they know it now, they can film it correctly from the start and not do a crappy last minute conversion like they seem to be doing with everything that's come out since Avatar...

[Zarkan]

Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that : from what I've read, the first of the two films will be the adaptation of The Hobbit, while the second one will be something to them to the LotR trilogy.

Actually, that plan was scrapped a while ago (thank goodness). Now, instead of one film based on the Hobbit and one "bridge film" made partly out of Tolkien's unfinished works, there will be simply two films based on the Hobbit. This likely will mean that, unlike the first three movies, they won't have to cut barely anything out, as two 3+ hour films leaves a lot of space to fit everything in and have it flow as smoothly as the LOTR trilogy.

[Big Cam]

Seems to be like episodes 1, 2, and 3.

If you've seen the originals the new ones may make more sense but aren't necssary to enjoy the movies.

[Dunjohn]

I did enjoy the Hobbit book more than the Lord of the Rings novels. They're all fantastic, obviously, but the Lord of the rings was this big, sweeping epic, while the Hobbit was a nice, comfortable adventure. I just preferred it.

One thing I'm expecting them to do is explain Gandalf's absence a bit more. We know he was off dealing with a Sauron brushfire and couldn't accompany Bilbo for most of it as a result, but that wasn't really mentioned in the book. He was just "busy."

I hope to God they keep one little fact in mind: It doesn't need to be better than the LotR movies. It just needs to be as good. Nobody's asking for better.

Edited April 14, 2010 by Dunjohn

[Clone OPatra]

Well, I think that since this discussion is actually about the planned The Hobbit movie and it's sequel, I should change the title to reflect that.

Personally, I am excited for this movie (if they ever start filming it, but I'm sure they will eventually). Yes, Peter Jackson is not directing it, but I have full faith that Guillermo del Toro can make an awesome Hobbit movie. Well, I think he can make an awesome any movie, but I mean to say that I think he can certainly make a Hobbit movie on par with the stunning LOTR trilogy films.

Now, about that planned sequel, I'll bet that would be pretty good too. Jackson and del Toro are penning both films, and both are darn good screen-writers, so I bet they can come up with something nice that shows some time between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring.

Luckily for me, I've never read the LOTR novels (only The Hobbit), so I can't get insulted or angry if this invented gap film does not follow what I know of the LOTR universe. By this, I am not trying to insult any fans of the LOTR universe. I myself get a bit annoyed when the filmmakers of the Harry Potter films do things that go against my knowledge of the books (same with the Clone Wars tv show in relation to the SW universe), and I'm sure I would feel the same way if this gap film did go against my knowledge of the LOTR universe. But, since I have no knowledge of the LOTR universe past the films and The Hobbit novel, I might be able to enjoy the film better.

[Corvus]

I did enjoy the Hobbit book more than the Lord of the Rings novels. They're all fantastic, obviously, but the Lord of the rings was this big, sweeping epic, while the Hobbit was a nice, comfortable adventure. I just preferred it.

I agree. The Hobbit was a nice little book. The LOTR books relied on so much backstory and names that it was hard to follow. I got lost when trying to hack my way through the conversations because so many people and places were mentioned by the characters...

The Hobbit is much more easygoing, and I like the tone of it more. It's borderline playful and humorous.

One thing I'm expecting them to do is explain Gandalf's absence a bit more. We know he was off dealing with a Sauron brushfire and couldn't accompany Bilbo for most of it as a result, but that wasn't really mentioned in the book. He was just "busy."

I hope to God they keep one little fact in mind: It doesn't need to be better than the LotR movies. It just needs to be as good. Nobody's asking for better.

Well, I'm actually hoping for 'better,' now that they can animate the goblin armies better. 'Better', in this case, is just better- people seem to think of 'better' as the battles being more epic and the characters doing more crazy stunts. I want a 'better' movie in the everything- from cinemetrography, to character lines, to makeup. Not just the epic-ness of it. Besides, who wants to see an epic Hobbit?

[Clone OPatra]

I want a 'better' movie in the everything- from cinemetrography … to makeup.

Eh, that's going to be hard. The cinematography and makeup were absolutely smashing; I don't think you could ask for anything more than "on the same level." I omitted "character lines" from my quote of the post since some of those were a bit corny even in delivery, and some of the effects were not the best, so you could ask for better in that area too. But cinematography and makeup, I'm not sure what would be 'better' than the in the Trilogy.

[Zarkan]

Some sad news - Guillermo del Toro has quit directing the Hobbit! You can read the full article Here, but it seems that he was tired of waiting to start production on the films, which have been delayed extensively because of the MGM bankruptcy.

This is really unfortunate - I was looking foward to seeing how he would handle the adaption of the books. Fortunately, he's still involved in the film somewhat, but it's still disapointing.

[The Legonater]

The movie still going, right?

[Corvus]

The movie still going, right?

Yes. According to Jackson, it's going to start filming sometime in the fall.

Sigh... how long must we wait?

[Zarkan]

Only Sauron knows. Seriously, I'm really starting to get worried about this project - until MGM is either bought or sells the movie rights, production can't even start. The release date has already been moved back once or twice, and this will likely continue until the situation is sorted out.

And even when (if?) it does eventually get started, the production will still be minus one awesome director. I at least hope that the new director uses all the stuff del Toro created for the movies (sets, costumes, creatures, etc) instead of starting over - that would save a lot of effort and would preserve some of what we would have gotten with him as the director.

[Commodore Hornbricker]

I hate MGM right now. They are screwing up the next Bond film as well!

[The Legonater]

Huh. I suggest paitence, but if this keep up we won't be getting anywhere. I got mad at MGM when they stopped SG-1...