The Hobbit in July 2007?

[Child of the 7th Age]

My guess is that this will not be packaged as the "pure" Hobbit but as the prelude to PJ's Lord of the Rings. If that is the case, it is to their commercial advantage to push this film out prior to 2012 while their prior audience is still alive and clamoring for more. Whether or not that's possible, I have no idea.

I wouldn't be shocked to see a PG-13 label on the movie. In order to emphasize the ties with the earlier films, there is a good chance we'll see brief flashes in the background of what Gandalf is doing and the growing awareness of Sauron. If anything, I think we might even see Sauron as the necromancer peeping over the edges of the film.

I could be wrong, but I can't see PJ doing a "classic" hobbit as a children's story which is also capable of being enjoyed by adults. It will likely have much the same feel of the earlier movies. The dangers on the road will surely be "darkened" and flashes of horror added.

To what extent will the humor be emphasized? I'm less certain of that. Since PJ, rightly or wrongly, used Gimli for comic relief, I would be curious to see how he portrays the Dwarves in this situation.

And what about the physical similarities of the landscapes in the two films? Will Rivendell be a carbon copy? That's a lot different than Tolkien's last homely house in the actual Hobbit.

[narfforc]

I hope that The Necromancer is shown in the film for two reasons:

1. He is actually mentioned in the book.

2. They can therefore show visually Gandalfs 'business down south'.

Maybe they will find a way to use some of The Quest of Erebor (I won't hold my breath on that one)

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

I could be wrong, but I can't see PJ doing a "classic" hobbit as a children's story which is also capable of being enjoyed by adults. It will likely have much the same feel of the earlier movies. The dangers on the road will surely be "darkened" and flashes of horror added.

To what extent will the humor be emphasized? I'm less certain of that. Since PJ, rightly or wrongly, used Gimli for comic relief, I would be curious to see how he portrays the Dwarves in this situation.

Well, with PJ at the helm some good things to look forwards to might include whole troupes of evil Shelobs scurrying about in Mirkwood.

But with 13 Dwarves to play with there will be 13 times the opportunity for belching jokes so I'll be taking my ear plugs with me as it could get noisy. What about the potential for 13 Dwarves to be tossed off the Lonely Mountain by Smaug?

[Tuor in Gondolin]

I think a two-part Hobbit would be a smart $$$
and story move for the project. Some of the bits added are
suggested above, plus it wouldn't be necessary to cut
out some events as would probably be necessary in
one movie. As to where to cut it there would seem
to be two possibilities, either as Gandalf leaves
Thorin and Co. and they enter Mirkwood, or with the
dwarves beiing captured by the giant spiders.
In the latter case there could be a longer ending of
Bilbo's return in the book + a suggested hint of the
Ring taking hold of him.

[Mithalwen]

Child has made some splendid points but thinking about it, while the tone of the Hobbit is very childish, the action is really quite dark already once you leave Hobbiton and using the Quest of Erebor approach is something that would remedy that. I think that a "childs"version would work best as one of those classic sunday afternoon serials which would spread the "nasties" out into manageable chunks interspersed with lighter parts. I can't help thinking that condensing it into even a three hour film is likely to make it too unrelentingly scary for smaller children. Trolls, goblins, gollum, more goblins & Wargs,man who turns into a bear, sinister wood, unfriendly elves, even unfriendlier spiders ... and all before we even get to the dragon.....

[Brinniel]

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

And what about the physical similarities of the landscapes in the two films? Will Rivendell be a carbon copy? That's a lot different than Tolkien's last homely house in the actual Hobbit.

Well, if PJ does indeed become involved with The Hobbit (or perhaps anyone who was previously involved in the trilogy), then I can imagine that all sets that were also in LotR would be rebuilt to look as close to the originals as possible. Though there may be a few changes, the filmmakers have to keep in mind the poor ignorant fools (aka those who refuse to read the books), who will be very confused if locations such as Rivendell are hardly recognizable.

Yes, a big disappointment for us loyal readers, but it'd be just another change that we'd have to learn to accept....

[Gil-Galad]

If we go two-part Hobbit, a good ending i thought of would be after Bilbo gets the ring from Gollum, and it'll black out with a dramatic 'to be continued' then part 2 wil lcome out and it could also alude to LOTR in the end.

[narfforc]

Yes it would be good to end with a scene inbetween, maybe Bilbo out on a sunday walk some 26yrs later, where he bumps into his relatives Drogo and Primula Baggins and their new born son, and then further down the path he puts on the Ring to escape from Lobelia and Otho Sackville-Baggins and their screaming brat Lotho, the end scene of the door of Bag End opening and closing on its own.