The Hobbit (film series)

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The Hobbit is the current working title for two upcoming live action films based upon J.R.R. Tolkien's novel of the same name. They are conceived as prequels to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings with which they will form one "continuous journey".[2] Both films will be directed by Guillermo Del Toro and distributed by MGM and New Line Cinema. Peter Jackson will serve as executive producer and co-writer.

Plot

The Hobbit films are set to be released in December 2011 and 2012, they will cover the events in The Hobbit, and possibly Gandalfs visits to Dol Guldur. The main plot however will be of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and Thorin and Company as they set forth to the Lonely Mountain.

"Film Two"

Film Two has been recently revealed in an interview with Del Toro and Jackson, to be a continuation of The Hobbit. The interview which was included in Empire magazines 20th Birthday Special, expressed how the pair believed it would be better not to cram The Hobbit into one movie, but span it over two.

"We've decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur"
Guillermo Del Toro[3]

This interview goes with what Jackson and Del Toro said in a web chat with fans, when it was said that the story could take place during the events of the Hobbit; because of the fact that Gandalf continually disappears in the book. Jackson said "Those gaps are great! There's a lot of stuff going on, which is distracting him".[4]

Film Horror/Intensity

In an interview with the BBC Del Toro has commented on the level of horror and violence in the "The Hobbit" in this interview he mentioned his plans on the film about its intensity he said "The intensity of the scenes of the Hobbit will have the intensity they had in the book when I was a kid reading them." Del Toro then moves on to the instances in which this will appear "The spiders of Mirkwood are a pretty harrowing experience and facing the great goblin in the caves is quite a thrilling moment. The Battle of the Five Armies, the first encounter with Gollum - there are scary moments in the book".

Del Toro also mentioned that "they '[Intense/Horrific Moments in the book]are already there. We are not inventing or trying to do horror for horror's sake we are trying to imbue those moments of intensity in the book into the movie."


Issues concerning production

The Hobbit as a movie has been anticipated by many fans since the release of The Lord of the Rings. Even before the pre-production began there had been and are still issues which could delay the production of Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit. In early 2005 it came to the public attention that Peter Jackson was suing New Line Cinema.[5] This cast doubt on whether or not The Hobbit would ever be made. Jackson later told fans that, due to the dispute, he would neither direct nor produce the film.[5] In late 2007 it was confirmed that Jackson would not direct, but would be an executive producer for two Hobbit movies.[6] It was later announced that Guillermo del Toro would direct the films, and that Jackson will be an active 'executive producer' with the possibility that he would help direct some scenes if necessary.[4]

In May 2008 it was reported that Christopher Tolkien would ask "for 'one last crusade' against the film's producers in his long-running legal battle over money owed for the Lord Of The Rings movies."[7] On June 6, 2008, it was scheduled for him to go before a Californian judge to ask to "terminate" film rights to The Hobbit. The trial has not yet concluded and will continue on October 19, 2009, with two status conferences scheduled before then. Please note that, based on the latest information, it appears likely now that this lawsuit will not affect the production of The Hobbit.

People involved

Confirmed

Unconfirmed/rumoured

Special effects

Weta will continue their role in handling the special effects. Del Toro has stated he wishes to focus more on animatronics for the films.

"The only thing I will be pushing for more in these films that the other three are full animatronics and animatronic creatures enhanced with CGI, as opposed to CGI creatures themselves. We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap ten years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for virtual reality."
― Guillermo del Toro [12]

See also

References

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External links