The Hobbit in July 2007? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Beanamir of Gondor · 11-30-2006, 12:13 PM

This might have been mentioned in another thread someplace (one of the other PJ-Hobbit threads) but I couldn't find it, so here's the blurb I found perusing a magazine today.

Newsweek, December 4th, 2006, p. 75
"Breaking the Hobbit"
It should've been a slam dunk. Peter Jackson, mastermind of the "Lord of the Rings" franchise, was all set to reteam with studio partner New Line on a film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Rings" prequel, "The Hobbit". Then a funny thing happened: New Line fired him. No one's using that word, natch, but in a letter posted on the fan site theonering.net, Jackson claims that the studio told him it "would no longer be requiring our services on 'The Hobbit' ". (New Line declined to comment; Jackson could not be reached.) Why the breakup? Fallout from Jackson's decision to audit New Line's accounting on "Rings". The studio wanted him to settle the matter before handing him "The Hobbit". He refused; that was that. It'll be tough to fill Jackson's shoes. For one thing, he doesn't wear any.
--Devin Gordon

And here's some OFFICIAL news on it from theonering.net. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen tossed in their opinions, too.
http://www.mymovies.net/news/news_li...=5975&sec=news

Any thoughts or feelings? (complaints? huzzahs?) I'm not sure yet if I'm glad for Gloin the dwarf-tossed, or sad for Bilbo the Ring-Finder.

Elladan and Elrohir · 12-01-2006, 05:34 PM

No matter what anyone says, this ain't over yet. Saul Zaentz and MGM have both said multiple times that they want PJ making The Hobbit. I don't know that fan pressure is overwhelming, but I can assure you it's present. I predict New Line waits about six months so as not to appear quite as weak as they otherwise would, and then caves in, settles the suit, and offers the job to PJ. Hello, New Line! Who directed the three highest-grossing films in your history and brought home a truckload of Oscars in the process? Oh yeah, that fat guy from New Zealand. If he directs, TH is guaranteed to be one of the top grossing films of the year.

Honestly, if I knew another director would give TH the same treatment that PJ has given LOTR (i.e., the quality of costumes, sets, weapons, props, casting, score, little details for the fans), I might be OK with a director change. But it's not just PJ that we're losing here. We're losing Fran and Philippa as screenwriters. We're losing Andrew Lesnie as cinematographer. Despite what Richard Taylor says, we're probably losing the brilliance of WETA in weapons, props and visual effects. We're losing the brilliance of another Howard Shore score. We're almost certainly losing Gandalf, oops, I mean Ian McKellen, as well as the greatest Gollum to ever grace the earth, Andy Serkis.

Sure, these people can be replaced (except maybe the latter three). There are other competent people out there, particularly in the areas of writing and cinematography. But are they going to give TH the same TLC that we got with LOTR?

I would be far more willing to put this book in the hands of Peter Jackson and get a violent, epic, LOTR-style PG-13 Hobbit, than put it in the hands of another director, having absolutely no idea what I'm going to get.

Wow, sorry to rant about all this. It's something I feel strongly about. Which is probably why I have to convince myself that when the dust settles, PJ will be directing and everything will be okay. If I'm in heavy denial, I apologize.

Brinniel · 12-02-2006, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Who directed the three highest-grossing films in your history and brought home a truckload of Oscars in the process? Oh yeah, that fat guy from New Zealand.

Except you can't call PJ the "fat guy" anymore...

I mentioned before that it looks like New Line is aiming for 2009, but I seriously doubt that will happen. It took years to get LotR going, and with this ongoing battle, it'll take even longer to even get The Hobbit started.

As far as we know, the director and screenwriters (indeed, two very important parts) won't be the same, but I'm not going to guess on everyone else. I don't think most of the other crew member wouldn't participate in The Hobbit just because PJ isn't involved- if they don't participate, it'll be for other reasons. New Line would just be stupid not to bring back a single crew or cast member into the project. I feel confident that some will return. For one thing, there is no other team except WETA who can portray Gollum the same. And they can't animate Gollum without Andy Serkis (Gollum may be CGI, but his looks and personality come from Serkis). Gollum is an important character of The Hobbit, and if he doesn't come close to what he was in LotR, this movie will be a disaster for sure. New Line kicked PJ and Fran off the project, but no one else. I won't believe for a second that no one else in the cast and crew would return to work on The Hobbit until someone shows me some actual evidence.

Kuruharan · 12-02-2006, 10:49 AM

It is funny, but after the original movies came out (even though I had mixed feelings about them at the time) I wanted The Hobbit movie to be made.

Now that this news has broken…I’m not so sure. I have to admit that I’ve come to have a more negative opinion about the original movies as time has passed so I don’t really want to see Jackson do The Hobbit. Unfortunately, none of the other names mentioned interest me and some are rather repulsive as far as I’m concerned (please, Eru, no…not the the Wachowski Brothers, and after seeing that silly Pirates 2 I don’t want Verbinski anywhere near Tolkien…although, on the other hand, at least we wouldn’t have sequels to worry about him messing up the characters. He’d only have to worry about getting it right once.

)

Lush · 12-02-2006, 11:53 AM

I adore PJ, but if it's not meant to be, then...

Alfonso Cuarón is a great director. He did a magnificent Harry Potter 3, rescuing the saga from the clutches of Chris Columbus' bumbling mediocrity. He has an eye for the whimsical, and his films are gorgeous. He has also grown incredibly since "Great Expectations."

Mike Newell did a great job with the latest Harry Potter. I think humour is his greatest strength, and I think that he would make an awesome candidate, particularly when you look at the material he would be dealing with. And visually, the film was awesome as well.

And Guillermo del Toro! I loved "Hellboy," and I am hearing good things about "El Laberinto del Fauno" (Pan's Labyrinth) - it looks stunning. Ok, so he also did "Mimic," but then again, PJ was responsible for "The Frighteners" - so that doesn't mean anything. Del Toro has a brilliant, twisted imagination. He might make "The Hobbit" slightly darker - even in terms of something as simple as colour and the attention to detail. I think that could really work.

Then there is Julie Taymor - director of "Frida," which was so magical and vivid that I have little doubt that she could do great things with The Hobbit.

Luc Besson is also someone that I would look at closely for this. His commercials alone show what he is capable of.

Hungarian director Nimród Antal did a beautiful underground fairy tale called "Kontroll." I could not believe that this was his first feature film. He would be right for this story.

Then there's Kasi Lemmons - of "Eve's Bayou" and "The Caveman's Valentine." Also absolutely magical, imho.

I believe that someone like Sofia Coppola may do a surprisingly great job. She could probably do a departure from her usual subject matter - and do it well, and the way she films nature is amazing. I think Coppola could do great things with the Shire, the Misty Mountains, etc. - as long as the budget is decent. And she would handle the humour really well. People don't think that she could ever do a movie with a lot of outward scope, but I think she has it in her.

And, of course, people have already mentioned Tim Burton,

Child of the 7th Age · 12-02-2006, 11:55 AM

Interesting stuff! An editorial appeared yesterday in the Boston Globe and was then reprinted in the Toronto Star urging New Line to have PJ make The Hobbit. See here for the edited version.

And I can remember a time in the early sixties when mentioning Lord of the Rings or Tolkien would often get you blank stares!

Brinniel · 12-02-2006, 09:42 PM

Throwing out some names:

Michael Gondry - directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the Science of Sleep

Robert Zemeckis - directed Forrest Gump, Back to the Future trilogy, Cast Away, The Polar Express, and Beowulf (coming out next year)

Brian Singer - directed X-Men, X2, and Superman Returns

I'm interested in seeing how Stefen Fangmeier does with Eragon. This is his first movie as director. He's mainly a computer graphics/visual effects supervisor with films like Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Hook, Twister, Saving Private Ryan, The Perfect Storm, Bourne Identity, Signs, Master and Commander, and Lemony Snicket. If I were to suggest him, at least he'd do a good job in finding a decent visual team and would pay close attention to the visual effects.

Then, of course, there's always Quentin Tarantino...

Mänwe · 12-03-2006, 08:43 AM

Brinniel, now a Tarantino film would be interesting. I bet on the Battle of the Five Armies scene morphing into black and white with katana wielding elves neatly taking off hands and feet of unfortunate orcs and goblins.

But it seems people are worried about the script and "feel" of the film. Which are obviously two highly important aspects of a film. Perhaps 'The Hobbit' without PJ will lack the same emotional quality, but would bring another script team. Can you see PJ working with anyone else other than Fran Walsh? So yes, perhaps a film without PJ would bring something new and better to the script. Although the obvious downside is, we won't know what it will be like until it came out. (If the film goes ahead.) Whereas we know what to expect if the "LoTR" script team also writes 'The Hobbit'.

Yet despite all the positives and negatives of not having PJ as director for 'The Hobbit' and all the contested points on his "LoTR", I would still be disappointed if he were not the director.

And seeing as we are suggesting directors, why not approach Christopher Tolkien?

11-30-2006, 12:13 PM	#1
Beanamir of Gondor Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: the Shadow Gallery Posts: 276	Update on PJ and The Hobbit This might have been mentioned in another thread someplace (one of the other PJ-Hobbit threads) but I couldn't find it, so here's the blurb I found perusing a magazine today. Newsweek, December 4th, 2006, p. 75 "Breaking the Hobbit" It should've been a slam dunk. Peter Jackson, mastermind of the "Lord of the Rings" franchise, was all set to reteam with studio partner New Line on a film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Rings" prequel, "The Hobbit". Then a funny thing happened: New Line fired him. No one's using that word, natch, but in a letter posted on the fan site theonering.net, Jackson claims that the studio told him it "would no longer be requiring our services on 'The Hobbit' ". (New Line declined to comment; Jackson could not be reached.) Why the breakup? Fallout from Jackson's decision to audit New Line's accounting on "Rings". The studio wanted him to settle the matter before handing him "The Hobbit". He refused; that was that. It'll be tough to fill Jackson's shoes. For one thing, he doesn't wear any. --Devin Gordon And here's some OFFICIAL news on it from theonering.net. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen tossed in their opinions, too. http://www.mymovies.net/news/news_li...=5975&sec=news Any thoughts or feelings? (complaints? huzzahs?) I'm not sure yet if I'm glad for Gloin the dwarf-tossed, or sad for Bilbo the Ring-Finder. __________________ The answer to life is no longer 42. It's 4 8 15 16 23... 42. "I only lent you my body; you lent me your dream."

12-01-2006, 05:34 PM	#2
Elladan and Elrohir Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Halls of Mandos Posts: 332	No matter what anyone says, this ain't over yet. Saul Zaentz and MGM have both said multiple times that they want PJ making The Hobbit. I don't know that fan pressure is overwhelming, but I can assure you it's present. I predict New Line waits about six months so as not to appear quite as weak as they otherwise would, and then caves in, settles the suit, and offers the job to PJ. Hello, New Line! Who directed the three highest-grossing films in your history and brought home a truckload of Oscars in the process? Oh yeah, that fat guy from New Zealand. If he directs, TH is guaranteed to be one of the top grossing films of the year. Honestly, if I knew another director would give TH the same treatment that PJ has given LOTR (i.e., the quality of costumes, sets, weapons, props, casting, score, little details for the fans), I might be OK with a director change. But it's not just PJ that we're losing here. We're losing Fran and Philippa as screenwriters. We're losing Andrew Lesnie as cinematographer. Despite what Richard Taylor says, we're probably losing the brilliance of WETA in weapons, props and visual effects. We're losing the brilliance of another Howard Shore score. We're almost certainly losing Gandalf, oops, I mean Ian McKellen, as well as the greatest Gollum to ever grace the earth, Andy Serkis. Sure, these people can be replaced (except maybe the latter three). There are other competent people out there, particularly in the areas of writing and cinematography. But are they going to give TH the same TLC that we got with LOTR? I would be far more willing to put this book in the hands of Peter Jackson and get a violent, epic, LOTR-style PG-13 Hobbit, than put it in the hands of another director, having absolutely no idea what I'm going to get. Wow, sorry to rant about all this. It's something I feel strongly about. Which is probably why I have to convince myself that when the dust settles, PJ will be directing and everything will be okay. If I'm in heavy denial, I apologize. __________________ "If you're referring to the incident with the dragon, I was barely involved. All I did was give your uncle a little nudge out of the door." THE HOBBIT - IT'S COMING

12-02-2006, 10:49 AM	#4
Kuruharan Regal Dwarven Shade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold Posts: 3,593	I post in a fit of overwhelming pessimism... It is funny, but after the original movies came out (even though I had mixed feelings about them at the time) I wanted The Hobbit movie to be made. Now that this news has broken…I’m not so sure. I have to admit that I’ve come to have a more negative opinion about the original movies as time has passed so I don’t really want to see Jackson do The Hobbit. Unfortunately, none of the other names mentioned interest me and some are rather repulsive as far as I’m concerned (please, Eru, no…not the the Wachowski Brothers, and after seeing that silly Pirates 2 I don’t want Verbinski anywhere near Tolkien…although, on the other hand, at least we wouldn’t have sequels to worry about him messing up the characters. He’d only have to worry about getting it right once. ) __________________ ...finding a path that cannot be found, walking a road that cannot be seen, climbing a ladder that was never placed, or reading a paragraph that has no...

12-02-2006, 11:53 AM	#5
Lush Fair and Cold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: the big onion Posts: 1,770	I adore PJ, but if it's not meant to be, then... Alfonso Cuarón is a great director. He did a magnificent Harry Potter 3, rescuing the saga from the clutches of Chris Columbus' bumbling mediocrity. He has an eye for the whimsical, and his films are gorgeous. He has also grown incredibly since "Great Expectations." Mike Newell did a great job with the latest Harry Potter. I think humour is his greatest strength, and I think that he would make an awesome candidate, particularly when you look at the material he would be dealing with. And visually, the film was awesome as well. And Guillermo del Toro! I loved "Hellboy," and I am hearing good things about "El Laberinto del Fauno" (Pan's Labyrinth) - it looks stunning. Ok, so he also did "Mimic," but then again, PJ was responsible for "The Frighteners" - so that doesn't mean anything. Del Toro has a brilliant, twisted imagination. He might make "The Hobbit" slightly darker - even in terms of something as simple as colour and the attention to detail. I think that could really work. Then there is Julie Taymor - director of "Frida," which was so magical and vivid that I have little doubt that she could do great things with The Hobbit. Luc Besson is also someone that I would look at closely for this. His commercials alone show what he is capable of. Hungarian director Nimród Antal did a beautiful underground fairy tale called "Kontroll." I could not believe that this was his first feature film. He would be right for this story. Then there's Kasi Lemmons - of "Eve's Bayou" and "The Caveman's Valentine." Also absolutely magical, imho. I believe that someone like Sofia Coppola may do a surprisingly great job. She could probably do a departure from her usual subject matter - and do it well, and the way she films nature is amazing. I think Coppola could do great things with the Shire, the Misty Mountains, etc. - as long as the budget is decent. And she would handle the humour really well. People don't think that she could ever do a movie with a lot of outward scope, but I think she has it in her. And, of course, people have already mentioned Tim Burton, __________________ ~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~

12-02-2006, 11:55 AM	#6
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	Interesting stuff! An editorial appeared yesterday in the Boston Globe and was then reprinted in the Toronto Star urging New Line to have PJ make The Hobbit. See here for the edited version. And I can remember a time in the early sixties when mentioning Lord of the Rings or Tolkien would often get you blank stares! __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote.

12-02-2006, 09:42 PM	#7
Brinniel Reflection of Darkness Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Polishing the stars. Well, somebody has to do it; they're looking a little bit dull. Posts: 2,983	Throwing out some names: Michael Gondry - directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the Science of Sleep Robert Zemeckis - directed Forrest Gump, Back to the Future trilogy, Cast Away, The Polar Express, and Beowulf (coming out next year) Brian Singer - directed X-Men, X2, and Superman Returns I'm interested in seeing how Stefen Fangmeier does with Eragon. This is his first movie as director. He's mainly a computer graphics/visual effects supervisor with films like Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Hook, Twister, Saving Private Ryan, The Perfect Storm, Bourne Identity, Signs, Master and Commander, and Lemony Snicket. If I were to suggest him, at least he'd do a good job in finding a decent visual team and would pay close attention to the visual effects. Then, of course, there's always Quentin Tarantino... __________________ Nolite te bastardes carborundorum

12-03-2006, 08:43 AM	#8
Mänwe Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: May as well be the Arctic Circle Posts: 283	Brinniel, now a Tarantino film would be interesting. I bet on the Battle of the Five Armies scene morphing into black and white with katana wielding elves neatly taking off hands and feet of unfortunate orcs and goblins. But it seems people are worried about the script and "feel" of the film. Which are obviously two highly important aspects of a film. Perhaps 'The Hobbit' without PJ will lack the same emotional quality, but would bring another script team. Can you see PJ working with anyone else other than Fran Walsh? So yes, perhaps a film without PJ would bring something new and better to the script. Although the obvious downside is, we won't know what it will be like until it came out. (If the film goes ahead.) Whereas we know what to expect if the "LoTR" script team also writes 'The Hobbit'. Yet despite all the positives and negatives of not having PJ as director for 'The Hobbit' and all the contested points on his "LoTR", I would still be disappointed if he were not the director. And seeing as we are suggesting directors, why not approach Christopher Tolkien? __________________ "I am, I fear, a most unsatisfactory person." - (Letter #124 To Sir Stanley Unwin)