[LordPhillock]

Hello everyone,

this is kind of my third post on this forum, and before I start - could I say that I have never met a more opinionated throng concerning the LOTR & upcoming 'Hobbit' films. For that, I am very, very thankful to discover that there are many more people here who actually aren't heedless peasants that get so explosively excited for one-third of a story that isn't even out yet, and blindly forgive the filmmakers for every little questionable creative decision these "hobbit movies" are being submitted to.

I love to make movies, and would like to consider myself a filmmaker, and this particular story has been in my head for the good sum of almost seven years. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I was thinking of a movie version of this for so long, but in context, it should - a fraction of a tiny bit - justify some of my opinions on further criticism concerning these upcoming movies.

Sorry to bog down this thread: I just want to say that I agree with most of you about the gigantic notion of overkill this book is experiencing, and - from my knowledge about this particular project - The Hobbit's production has been in trouble since the beginning. In 2004, after ROTK came out, Jackson was fairly indifferent to anything Tolkien-Related (who can blame him?). Sure, he said they'd try to help make "the Hobbit", but after many years of a bit of bad blood between him and New Line Cinema, and MGM holding the rights to the movie (and going through bankruptcy), I'm pretty sure Jackson and his group were less and less interested in doing something they've already done for over seven years.

Back when they were initiating the project in 1996/7, it was something new and natural. They really went out to make a statement for themselves and did a really good job for the most part on this really daunting project. Afterwards, Jackson was able to do whatever he wanted in terms of filmmaking, and KING KONG was his dream-project.

After years and years, in 2007, they finally made peace and started this "Hobbit" movie as two parts, and Jackson had no intention of directing since he already made LOTR and what else is there to do? He even said he had no interest in directing it at all. They got Guillermo Del Toro to do it (who once said the idea of 'elves, hobbits, and dragons' didn't interest him much to begin with), and later on after some New Zealand labor problems and location complications, the studio pushed for Jackson to direct after all. He always says for him the challenge was to find out a way to make the process "enjoyable" rather than what it should be: "a faithful adaptation of the book". So, with that in mind, you can see that this isn't really a project anyone was particularly "passionate" about, and to me it definitely shows. It's really just a movie that had to be made because of LOTR's success. Jackson might be in the swing of things by now (directing and whatnot), but it's definitely not the same drive that made him and his crew work so hard on LOTR, regardless if you thought the movies weren't up to par or not.

To me, the results are pretty apparent. "The Hobbit" didn't have to be three movies, and it certainly didn't have to be made the way it is. It definitely feels like that "LOTR" prequel trilogy that was made simply because it just had to be made.

Again, so sorry for my long-winded speech. I thought it would be the best to summarize on this thread.