And directing The Hobbit...perhaps!?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

There are reports right now that New Line wants as much continuity in terms of what is on the screen as they can get between these two films and the first three which did so well in so many ways. They want to strike box office gold again... an again. The best way they feel they can do that is to replicate as much as they can from the formula used for the LOTR films. That means Peter Jackson, WETA, Howard Shore and many other elements that show up on screen giving the ticket buyers a feeling of familiarity.

This is a film franchise now, like it or not. Many important decisions are being made on the basis on increasing the bottom line. As we all know, the film business is, after all, a business. And the main business of business is making money. If they are going to invest some $150 million US dollars in each of these two movies, you can bet they want to see that number multiplied at least five times, maybe more.

I don't see the point in hiring a director of Del Toro's quality & then basically telling him to copy Jackson & make a LotR clone. It strikes me that the best way to avoid striking box office gold is to simply repeat what has gone before - its also the best way to kill a franchise stone dead. Fans of the Jackson movies may go to see TH, but if all it is is more of the same then will they want to see a sequel?

And I have to say that, based on previous evidence (& the fluke of the LotR movies apart) the worst thing as far as commercial success is concerned is to give New Line what they want. From what you say New Line are in this purely to make money - & that is the worst approach because it leads to an avoidance of anything 'different' in the sequel as being too 'risky'. I can see this TH movie already - because I've seen the LotR movies. It will look exactly the same, have exactly the same 'feel', same bland dialogue. The more like the LotR movies it is the less reason to see it.

I do wonder how many movies fans really want more of the same, & how many would actually like to see a different vision of M-e? I suspect that if Del Toro was given a free hand he would give us a much more interesting take on Tolkien's work.

Then again, my ideal Hobbit would be an animation, in the style of Tolkien's own illustrations for the book.