The Hobbit Desolation of Smaug support thread.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Oh, no one will film them this year, or next. But someone will film them again, sometime. Only Ben Hur has stood the test of time never to be refilmed.

If you are referring to the William Wyler version of Ben Hur (starring Charlton Heston), that was the second version. The first was a silent adaptation directed by Fred Niblo. It was the most expensive movie of the silent era and the chariot race is just as grand as the latter version.

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Maybe that's naive of me. Probably. But to me the films are fan fiction: large, expensive, very popular fan fiction. I've written some myself, and some love it and some hate it, but my work hasn't tainted the Canon at all. I like to think the Professor would enjoy my work and someday I'll ask him. Maybe at that time I'll also ask what he thought of the movies.

I too have written fan-fiction, but I wouldn't presume to make money on it like Peter Jackson's 50 Shades of Middle-earth.

Originally Posted by mark12_30

While I wouldn't put the Professor's work in quite the same class as the bible, in my mind he certainly ranks with Shakespeare. And that may be a comforting thought. Shakespeare has been interpreted for centuries, and how many movies of Hamlet do we have? Yet the Bard' s original text is still speaking four centuries or so later.

The Bard. The Professor. Which one do you respect more? Which one would you rather meet? Imagine talking with Shakespeare about what his favorite Romeo and Juliet production is. Plays, movies, even ballets to choose from...
Maybe The Professor would prefer the Rankin Bass Hobbit over PJ's Hobbit. I know in some ways I do. But then again, PJ's barrels chase scene was too much fun. I want to see it again.

I think Shakespeare was far better at characterization, at creating a complete psychological profile of a given role. As far as Hamlet or Henry V, even great actors like Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud or even Kenneth Brannagh did not presume to add fan-fiction to the Bard's words. They didn't drop in whole fan-fic subplots in their productions of Shakespeare. There are levels of respect afforded Shakespeare's work that are not necessarily given to Tolkien's. Although I am sure there are some asinine adaptations of Shakespeare out there that have largely gone ignored (as it should be).

Hey, lets give Hamlet an Elvish mistress that adds a love triangle between Hamlet and Ophelia, and then throw in an Orc (a French one, of course) that chases Hamlet around the castle throughout the play.

As far as new versions of Tolkien's work? I don't see why not. It may be further in the future than many of us will see (what with copyright laws extending past my expected expiration date), but with the rapidity at which technology advances, we may get to view Middle-earth in person via a Holodeck a la Star Trek before we shuffle off this mortal coil.