[Elladan and Elrohir]

I have been reading this discussion with great interest and one thing I think we should all remember is that Christopher Tolkien is his father's son. For sure that's where he gets his stubbornness; just read J.R.R.'s letters if you don't believe me.<P>I can completely understand where he's coming from, and I think his position is similar to what his father's would be, were he alive today (and oh that he were). He sold the rights to LOTR to New Line hoping they would stay as close as the book as humanly possible.<P>They released three (OK, almost three, not quite three yet) movies that are, without a doubt, masterpieces in filmmaking, visually appealing, and very close to the books. However, they also took many creative liberties with the books.<P>I'm not saying I hate the creative liberties they took. In a lot of cases I like them. It's impossible to take a novel, turn it into a movie, and have it come out looking exactly the same.<P>But Christopher Tolkien felt that the movies went too far, and I can see how someone in his position might think that. And he is thus understandably reluctant to give the rights to Hobbit to New Line as well, so that they can (as he sees it) do more butchery of another of his father's classics.<P>Personally? I would love to see PJ do The Hobbit. I think he would do a terrific job with it, and he would stay pretty close to the book too.<P>Obviously, however, C.J.R. Tolkien doesn't see it that way. And for the present, there doesn't seem to be anything anybody can do about it.