The Hobbit in July 2007?

[Child of the 7th Age]

This just appeared on the onering.net: Hobbit on the New Line film schedule for July 2007. I am inclined not to believe it given the vague nature of the report. Plus PJ's present film commitments seemingly preclude him from doing the Hobbit anytime soon.

But has anyone else recently heard anything more along these lines?

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

interesting, but I think you are right not to belive it. Rumours like this pops up every once in a while; I won't belive it before I see some more substantial evidence.

and no, I haven't heard anything in those lines lately, if I had I might be more inclined to belive this.

Thanks for the story Child, it is always nice to be updated on these things.

[The Saucepan Man]

If the rumour is true (as regards the date) it is almost certain that Jackson will not be involved, given his other committments.

Of course, some may regard that as a blessing ...

[Meneltarmacil]

Of course, some may regard that as a blessing ...

I believe there's a saying out there that goes something like this: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know." Peter Jackson may have done some things to LOTR that we didn't like, but how do we know somebody else won't be worse?

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Is there any reasonable speculation as to who else
might direct such a movie?

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

*sigh* I had a whole post written out, but my wireless decided to go all wierd and it died right as I clicked "submit reply", so here we go again...

I think that the date is just a rumor.

If I may, I'll use Harry Potter as an example. The fifth Harry Potter movie is set to come out in July 2007...but anyone involved in Harry Potter fandom has been hearing about the production of that movie probably from about the time the fourth movie left the theaters. The director's name came first, then the projected date of release...and then followed news of which actors had signed on, etc. That movie is already shooting now.

There has been no news of that kind about The Hobbit at all, which makes me suspicious. I hadn't expected a Hobbit movie until maybe 2010... and that's if they seriously started the process now! That would give them time to untangle their rights mess, pick a director, get at least a draft of the script, audition actors and pick a cast, actually shoot the movie, loop dialogue, give the CGI team enough time to do their magic, find a composer, write a soundtrack, go through the editing process, and then promote the thing for release. Obviously, some of that stuff happens stimultaneously, but still. It's a huge undertaking, and I just don't think that they can do it in under a year. Rumors about the LOTR trilogy started in January '98...the first of those movies didn't appear until December '01. Granted, that was a much larger undertaking, but still.

I don't trust this news.

And I actually wouldn't mind if PJ directed TH. I'm used to his style, and I may be in a minority, but I actually liked the movies, despite differences from the book. *ducks*. I've just been able to appreciate the movies for the movies and the book for the book. His Middle-earth looks enough like mine so that it isn't jarring to watch. And as Menel said, better PJ who we know loves the book, and will stay true at least to the spirit of the story, than someone we have no familiarity with at all. I would trust PJ with TH. *ducks again*

I've read the news, and I think that it's just not enough to trust. A glimpse of what may have been the words "The Hobbit" on a July '07 calendar...? Could mean anything, including wishful thinking on New Line's part. I'm not going to trust it until New Line actually comes out and says it...the fact that they still haven't is a red flag. This stuff isn't just rumored about one year before it happens. Also, I think it's strange that the reporter wanted to be kept anonymous. I guess that keeps him/her safe if it turns out to be untrue...suspicious. [/werewolf mode, ]

[ninja91]

What movies are Jackson directing? Also, if it is for New Line, we cant count him out. Let us watch how this all plays out...

[Beanamir of Gondor]

This might have been mentioned in another thread someplace (one of the other PJ-Hobbit threads) but I couldn't find it, so here's the blurb I found perusing a magazine today.

Newsweek, December 4th, 2006, p. 75
"Breaking the Hobbit"
It should've been a slam dunk. Peter Jackson, mastermind of the "Lord of the Rings" franchise, was all set to reteam with studio partner New Line on a film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Rings" prequel, "The Hobbit". Then a funny thing happened: New Line fired him. No one's using that word, natch, but in a letter posted on the fan site theonering.net, Jackson claims that the studio told him it "would no longer be requiring our services on 'The Hobbit' ". (New Line declined to comment; Jackson could not be reached.) Why the breakup? Fallout from Jackson's decision to audit New Line's accounting on "Rings". The studio wanted him to settle the matter before handing him "The Hobbit". He refused; that was that. It'll be tough to fill Jackson's shoes. For one thing, he doesn't wear any.
--Devin Gordon

And here's some OFFICIAL news on it from theonering.net. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen tossed in their opinions, too.
http://www.mymovies.net/news/news_li...=5975&sec=news

Any thoughts or feelings? (complaints? huzzahs?) I'm not sure yet if I'm glad for Gloin the dwarf-tossed, or sad for Bilbo the Ring-Finder.

[Elladan and Elrohir]

No matter what anyone says, this ain't over yet. Saul Zaentz and MGM have both said multiple times that they want PJ making The Hobbit. I don't know that fan pressure is overwhelming, but I can assure you it's present. I predict New Line waits about six months so as not to appear quite as weak as they otherwise would, and then caves in, settles the suit, and offers the job to PJ. Hello, New Line! Who directed the three highest-grossing films in your history and brought home a truckload of Oscars in the process? Oh yeah, that fat guy from New Zealand. If he directs, TH is guaranteed to be one of the top grossing films of the year.

Honestly, if I knew another director would give TH the same treatment that PJ has given LOTR (i.e., the quality of costumes, sets, weapons, props, casting, score, little details for the fans), I might be OK with a director change. But it's not just PJ that we're losing here. We're losing Fran and Philippa as screenwriters. We're losing Andrew Lesnie as cinematographer. Despite what Richard Taylor says, we're probably losing the brilliance of WETA in weapons, props and visual effects. We're losing the brilliance of another Howard Shore score. We're almost certainly losing Gandalf, oops, I mean Ian McKellen, as well as the greatest Gollum to ever grace the earth, Andy Serkis.

Sure, these people can be replaced (except maybe the latter three). There are other competent people out there, particularly in the areas of writing and cinematography. But are they going to give TH the same TLC that we got with LOTR?

I would be far more willing to put this book in the hands of Peter Jackson and get a violent, epic, LOTR-style PG-13 Hobbit, than put it in the hands of another director, having absolutely no idea what I'm going to get.

Wow, sorry to rant about all this. It's something I feel strongly about. Which is probably why I have to convince myself that when the dust settles, PJ will be directing and everything will be okay. If I'm in heavy denial, I apologize.

[Brinniel]

Who directed the three highest-grossing films in your history and brought home a truckload of Oscars in the process? Oh yeah, that fat guy from New Zealand.

Except you can't call PJ the "fat guy" anymore...

I mentioned before that it looks like New Line is aiming for 2009, but I seriously doubt that will happen. It took years to get LotR going, and with this ongoing battle, it'll take even longer to even get The Hobbit started.

As far as we know, the director and screenwriters (indeed, two very important parts) won't be the same, but I'm not going to guess on everyone else. I don't think most of the other crew member wouldn't participate in The Hobbit just because PJ isn't involved- if they don't participate, it'll be for other reasons. New Line would just be stupid not to bring back a single crew or cast member into the project. I feel confident that some will return. For one thing, there is no other team except WETA who can portray Gollum the same. And they can't animate Gollum without Andy Serkis (Gollum may be CGI, but his looks and personality come from Serkis). Gollum is an important character of The Hobbit, and if he doesn't come close to what he was in LotR, this movie will be a disaster for sure. New Line kicked PJ and Fran off the project, but no one else. I won't believe for a second that no one else in the cast and crew would return to work on The Hobbit until someone shows me some actual evidence.

[Kuruharan]

It is funny, but after the original movies came out (even though I had mixed feelings about them at the time) I wanted The Hobbit movie to be made.

Now that this news has broken…I’m not so sure. I have to admit that I’ve come to have a more negative opinion about the original movies as time has passed so I don’t really want to see Jackson do The Hobbit. Unfortunately, none of the other names mentioned interest me and some are rather repulsive as far as I’m concerned (please, Eru, no…not the the Wachowski Brothers, and after seeing that silly Pirates 2 I don’t want Verbinski anywhere near Tolkien…although, on the other hand, at least we wouldn’t have sequels to worry about him messing up the characters. He’d only have to worry about getting it right once. )

[Lush]

I adore PJ, but if it's not meant to be, then...

Alfonso Cuarón is a great director. He did a magnificent Harry Potter 3, rescuing the saga from the clutches of Chris Columbus' bumbling mediocrity. He has an eye for the whimsical, and his films are gorgeous. He has also grown incredibly since "Great Expectations."

Mike Newell did a great job with the latest Harry Potter. I think humour is his greatest strength, and I think that he would make an awesome candidate, particularly when you look at the material he would be dealing with. And visually, the film was awesome as well.

And Guillermo del Toro! I loved "Hellboy," and I am hearing good things about "El Laberinto del Fauno" (Pan's Labyrinth) - it looks stunning. Ok, so he also did "Mimic," but then again, PJ was responsible for "The Frighteners" - so that doesn't mean anything. Del Toro has a brilliant, twisted imagination. He might make "The Hobbit" slightly darker - even in terms of something as simple as colour and the attention to detail. I think that could really work.

Then there is Julie Taymor - director of "Frida," which was so magical and vivid that I have little doubt that she could do great things with The Hobbit.

Luc Besson is also someone that I would look at closely for this. His commercials alone show what he is capable of.

Hungarian director Nimród Antal did a beautiful underground fairy tale called "Kontroll." I could not believe that this was his first feature film. He would be right for this story.

Then there's Kasi Lemmons - of "Eve's Bayou" and "The Caveman's Valentine." Also absolutely magical, imho.

I believe that someone like Sofia Coppola may do a surprisingly great job. She could probably do a departure from her usual subject matter - and do it well, and the way she films nature is amazing. I think Coppola could do great things with the Shire, the Misty Mountains, etc. - as long as the budget is decent. And she would handle the humour really well. People don't think that she could ever do a movie with a lot of outward scope, but I think she has it in her.

And, of course, people have already mentioned Tim Burton,

[Child of the 7th Age]

Interesting stuff! An editorial appeared yesterday in the Boston Globe and was then reprinted in the Toronto Star urging New Line to have PJ make The Hobbit. See here for the edited version.

And I can remember a time in the early sixties when mentioning Lord of the Rings or Tolkien would often get you blank stares!