HOB - Chapters into Scenes Weekly

[Olórin the White]

no idea if this is still has interest in being pursued as a topic, but I figured I'd add my two cents. Most people seem to be a for an opening action sequence and/or background history (like FotR), however I disagree for several reasons.
A) I doubt PJ and del Toro will want to follow the same pattern they did for FotR, simply because every filmmaker wants to prove that he can do something fresh, and not fall back on a formula that worked in the past. (However, I will admit that PJ did love his use of either flashback or prologue type beginning to each LotR, so if they are trying to make The Hobbit fit that, perhaps they would indeed do something similar. It is hard to judge.)
B) From a character standpoint, this story is about Bilbo Baggins, he is 'the hobbit' afterall, and his sudden involvement in the events of the Dwarves is very bewildering and unexpected to him (hence 'the unexpected party). He has simply lived his quiet life in the Shire, and I believe that is how we should be introduced to the tone of the movie...the story of 'the Hobbit is told largely through his eyes, and therefore I sense that the movie should also be told through his eyes as well.
To add to that, we as the audience will understand his character arc better because we have followed a similar learning curve in terms of information discovered along the way.
Now, you might argue the same about Frodo and LotR, and that the book starts out largely dealing with the peace and quiet of the Shire, but there is just such an immense amount of history that needed to be set up (which isn't there in the Hobbit to nearly the same extent), and really, the 'lord' of the rings was Sauron, therefore he needed to be introduced at the outset.

Therefore, I think the film should start with Bilbo peacefully enjoying life in the Shire. I liked the idea someone had for the opening of flying in over the shire, and coming around and into Bag End where Bilbo is beginning to pen 'there and back again'. However, that was already shown at the beginning of FotR:EE, so in terms of film continuity that unfortunately wouldn't work. (unless they use that same footage and use it as a recurring theme of Bilbo writing it down and occassionally narrating the story...I've heard rumor that Ian Holm might have a role as a narrator in 'The Hobbit'?) That could be interesting. It is just difficult because what Bilbo is writing in the EE is really the prologue to LotR (Concerning Hobbits), rather than the opening to The Hobbit.
What I would love to see actually is the camera flying over a map of Middle Earth, revealing Mirkwood and the Lonely Mountain and other important landmarks we will see in the movie, with the voice of Bilbo in the background. Cue title card as the camera pans up to reveal that the map was actually in Bag End (very much out of FotR:EE) and have Bilbo beginning to write out The Hobbit, which of course naturally leads us to the opening scenes of Gandalf and the dwarves and the Unexpected Party).