Official The Hobbit thread

[Whiskey Tango]

For the record, I hope del Toro stays the hell away from The Hobbit. He'd be awesome, no doubt, but I want him to concentrate on At the Mountains of Madness. That's the movie I want to see above all others.

With The Hobbit...I dunno. I'd like it to feel like a companion piece to the LotR films rather than an unrelated offshoot. I'd prefer if PJ himself directed but I'm sure he'll choose the right person. I also really hope that both Ian's return.

 

[Threshold]

I know the big favorite for Young Bilbo is, last time I checked, Martin Freeman...

But how about Roger Bart?

He's pretty much stolen every scene he's ever been in. He's got stage & screen experience beyond that of a lot of actors. Just check out Stepford Wives, The Producers, American Gangster, Hostel 2 (i've heard), and his recent starring turn on broadway in Young Frankenstein.

 

[Gallagher]

I know the big favorite for Young Bilbo is, last time I checked, Martin Freeman...

But how about Roger Bart?

He's pretty much stolen every scene he's ever been in. He's got stage & screen experience beyond that of a lot of actors. Just check out Stepford Wives, The Producers, American Gangster, Hostel 2 (i've heard), and his recent starring turn on broadway in Young Frankenstein.

Martin Freeman? NO!

That guy? YES!!

Seriously I like Freeman but don't see why so many people want him as Bilbo.

 

[snap-hiss]

Why would Bilbo not be played by Holm? If you'll remember we've already seen Jackson's view on Bilbo finding the Ring, and it's simply Holm in a different wig.

!snap

 

[Gallagher]

Indeed, but still, that guy really does look like a young Ian Holm, I think its the eyes and mouth that remind me of him.

 

[ManofmyWord]

If God Forbid it comes out in 2011...
It'd be a decade since Fellowship.

 

[Marvolo]

If God Forbid it comes out in 2011...
It'd be a decade since Fellowship.

That's crazy when you think about it.

 

[GoldenAgeHero]

knowing that makes me feel old.

 

[Rezzo]

Elijah Wood Wants To Go Back Again To ‘The Hobbit’

Attention Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and Sean Astin: You’ve gone “There.” Now get ready to go “Back Again” - at least according to Elijah Wood’s conversations with “Hobbit” maestro Peter Jackson.

“I haven’t spoken to him directly about it [but] I’ve e-mailed him, and as far as I know, the two films that they’re doing, one will be ‘The Hobbit’ and another will take place between the 60 years that happened between ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” the once and future Frodo enthused to MTV News, possibly confirming rumors that the second planned film would not be a Part II, but instead a narrative bridge.

Which means plenty of opportunities for all the stars of “LOTR” to reprise their famous characters in some capacity. None more so, perhaps, than Wood himself, who would arguably be a central figure along with Gandalf, Aragorn, Galadriel, and Gollum in any connecting story.

For his part, Wood is positively thrilled at the possibility.

“If I’m asked to go back and revisit that character and it makes sense, I would love to. I would absolutely love to,” he said.

True, hard-core Tolkien aficionados could tell you that not much is known about Frodo in the intervening years between “The Hobbit” and “LOTR,” excepting, of course, his parents’ deaths and some conversations and journeys with Bilbo which are alluded to in the later legendarium.

That makes it all the more a guarantee that Wood would return, he declared.

“Nothing was really written with Frodo involved in it. That was sort of an ancillary tale outside of ‘Lord of the Rings.’ I can’t imagine that they [Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens] would write great reams of information regarding my character,” he said of necessary invention outside of Tolkien’s established canon. “But if he [Frodo] should show up, it would actually be the perfect way to revisit because it could be small enough that I could go back and have a nice sort of reunion with the memories that I have of the experience.”

As an actor, Wood is excited about the possibility of returning with Jackson to the world of Middle-earth. But he’s even more excited, he said, as a fan.

“It’s a great triumph [that Peter is involved.] I think that’s really important that the same team that worked on the [earlier] films [work on “The Hobbit”], the same effects team, that it be shot in New Zealand. I think that it’s important that Ian McKellen is cast as Gandalf, just so that there’s a synergy between the films,” he insisted. “I think people want it to exist in the same world. So at least now we are assured that it will be done through that same lens, which is great. It’s exciting.”

Interesting.

 

[War Party]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i331d7d05b8008476b2fae087024a2b8e

Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct back-to-back installments of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," which is being co-financed by New Line and MGM.

Del Toro's name was on a short list of directors who could tackle the project, one of the most anticipated literary adaptations of the past decade. An ill-chosen director for "Hobbit" could put billions of dollars at stake for New Line and MGM and could turn off an audience that encompasses millions of passionate readers, Tolkien fans and obsessive geeks.

Few filmmakers have the cachet that del Toro has, as well as a deep love for the source material, an assured grasp of fantasy filmmaking and an understanding and command of geek culture as well as its respect. Del Toro has built that goodwill through such films as the Oscar-nominated "Pan's Labyrinth," "Hellboy," "Blade 2" (which was made by New Line) and "The Devil's Backbone."

For New Line, making "Hobbit" had become a priority in the wake of its billion-dollar success of the Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings" movies, which were co-written and directed by Peter Jackson. Jackson wanted to adapt "Hobbit," but when he got into a dispute with the studio over profit participation, the project went into limbo; neither New Line nor MGM, both rights-holders to the film, wanted to risk alienating fans of the trilogy by making an adaptation that didn't have Jackson's involvement.

The December resolution of the Jackson suit, facilitated by MGM CEO Harry Sloan, paved the way for "Hobbit" to get back on the road to the screen. However, because of other commitments that included "The Lovely Bones" and "Tintin," Jackson could not take on writing and directing roles, opting instead to become an executive producer with approval over creative elements of the pair of films.


Because of the strike, no writer has been hired to adapt Tolkien's children's classic, though that process will be fast-tracked once it's resolved. Del Toro and Jackson will oversee "Hobbit's" writing.

Principal photography for the films, which will be shot simultaneously, is tentatively set for 2009. The production budget is estimated at $150 million per film. The release of the first film is slated for 2010 and the second in 2011.

"Hobbit," which Tolkien initially wrote for his children, was published in the U.K. in 1937 to wide acclaim. It centered on Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who joins a group of dwarves and the wizard Gandalf on a quest to find the treasure of a dragon named Smaug. Tolkien went on to write "The Lord of the Rings" 17 years later.

Del Toro is putting the finishing touches on Universal's summer release "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" and recently produced the critically acclaimed ghost story "The Orphanage." He is repped by Endeavor and Exile Entertainment.

 

[Dark Donnie]

this would be great

 

[odiin]

Kind of crazy that so many of us agreed that he would be a good choice for a while now and... here it is. His style, at least in my eyes, is somewhat reminiscent of Peter Jackson's, at least enough that I'm sure he will preserve a lot of what Peter Jackson did on the LotR movies, but also different enough that he will put his own exciting spin on it, and it won't feel like exactly the same thing all over again.

One thing I can say is the monsters in this are going to be CRAZY. NOBODY is better at than the del Toro. Plus he's one of the few director's left that realize sometimes things work better as prosthetics, and sometimes things work better as puppets, and you don't ALWAYS just have to resort to CG, they each have their benefits and drawbacks, and the director should know what works best in each scene. Using the Reapers in Blade II for instance, Guillermo actually used all three techniques for them at varying points. You had times where they were just guys in makeup, times where they were (excellent and lifelike) puppets, and times where they were CG.

 

[Argyle of Sock]

If God Forbid it comes out in 2011...
It'd be a decade since Fellowship.

My life is slipping away...

 

[Argyle of Sock]

I know the big favorite for Young Bilbo is, last time I checked, Martin Freeman...

But how about Roger Bart?

He's pretty much stolen every scene he's ever been in. He's got stage & screen experience beyond that of a lot of actors. Just check out Stepford Wives, The Producers, American Gangster, Hostel 2 (i've heard), and his recent starring turn on broadway in Young Frankenstein.

It's Bilbo!

 

[Timstuff]

Martin Freeman (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hot Fuzz) is Bilbo.

 

[The Lizard]

Martin Freeman (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hot Fuzz) is Bilbo.

I could see that.

 

[GreenKToo]

^ I'd be fine with either of those two.

 

[Hush]

I just started reading this book and man do I love J.R.R's story telling motif. I'm excited or this but im even more excited for the 2nd film that bridges the gap. If I see more of Viggo as Aragorn that would be awesome. Im in a LOTR class and man im learning all about the Myth's and what not, they need to make a SIlmarillion movie BAD! Along with a seperate film about the Numenorium.

 

[GreenKToo]

I just started reading this book and man do I love J.R.R's story telling motif. I'm excited or this but im even more excited for the 2nd film that bridges the gap. If I see more of Viggo as Aragorn that would be awesome. Im in a LOTR class and man im learning all about the Myth's and what not, they need to make a SIlmarillion movie BAD! Along with a seperate film about the Numenorium.

The skies the limit with material like this.

 

[Hush]

I know man i mean Tolkien setup and entire MYTHOLOGY for his stories, that is a huge task not to mention ingenious the way everything clicks if not all the way at least 3/4 the way. Its just great.

 

[Argyle of Sock]

It'll never be done, but I thought The Children of Hurin would make a good movie.

 

[Darkly Dexter]

Del Toro is PERFECT.

 

[QueerMike]

It'll never be done, but I thought The Children of Hurin would make a good movie.

Hmmmmm...

The Lord of the Rings: The Next Generation

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Hopefully this goes through, because he is an awsome director and an awsome choice to follow up P.J's brillant LOTR's movies.

 

[jaguarr]

Ain't It Cool is saying so:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35428


I wasn't hot on the idea of Raimi doing the Hobbit films as was rumored for awhile, but Del Toro would be absolutely awesome if Jackson really isn't going to do it himself (which I wish he was).

jag