'The Hobbit' still waiting for the green light

[Brinniel]

It's still premature to be discussing who's going to play Bilbo it seems. Here's what Peter Jackson said at ComicCon:

Originally Posted by James White

At the press event for District 9 today at Comic-Con, we got to sit down with Peter Jackson, who told us that The Hobbit is not quite as close to shooting as you might think.

"The studio hasn't even greenlit The Hobbit yet, but everyone is assuming the film is all happening, you know, but it's not really the case - the studio has to approve the script first of all and have confidence that the script is going to make a good film," the director told us.

"And then we have to budget that script - because there's no budget, we don't know how much it's going to cost and you don't know until you finish the script."

But while exactly no one is predicting that this thing won't go ahead - given the power of Jackson and Guillermo del Toro combined, there's surely no way it can be stopped short of legal issues - Jackson cautioned that it'll be a while before we hear more about casting etc.

"We haven't offered the role to anybody yet. There's a process that we have to go through, a very basic process for any movie and with The Hobbit, we're about three weeks away from delivering the first script. We've been working on that for the last three months flat out, as well as finishing District 9 and The Lovely Bones.

"And then we have to budget that script - because there's no budget, we don't know how much it's going to cost and you don't know until you finish the script."

Which means we'll have to wait a while, and stick to speculating about possible Bilbos before we get the official nod.

"We'll then spend about a month breaking it down and doing the schedules and budget," says Jackson. "So we're about two months away from casting."

I'm not surprised, really. Pre-production takes a long time and is the most difficult part about making a film. And figuring out a budget is the worst. I'm sure The Hobbit will happen, but considering that the first script hasn't even been completed yet, it'll be a while before production even begins. Who knows how long the production will take, and then there's post, which involves a lot more work than the actual filming. In my opinion, we'll be lucky if we see The Hobbit released before 2012. Things may be moving slowly, but I'd rather have that than see it rushed. Anyway, how many years did it take to make LotR from the initial pre-production?

On the bright side, construction has begun on Hobbiton. Which I find a bit confusing since the film hasn't officially been greenlit. But then again, I'm not going to complain...

[Oddwen]

Here's another tidbit from ComicCon

Jackson and co-authors have successfully pitched The Hobbit as two movies, both of which Guillermo Del Toro will co-write and direct. They are about 3 weeks away from finishing a draft of the script for the first movie, and at that point they will start to think about casting. Jackson insisted that nobody has been cast, and indeed nobody has even been contacted about casting. Based on the timetable he gave us, it sounds like you'll start hearing about real casting in a couple of months. What will The Hobbit be like? They are diverging from the books a bit to give Gandalf more backstory with the Necromancer. So they are adding to it, but not taking away. Jackson assured us that all 13 dwarves will be in the story, and they will stick as closely as possible to the original events of the book.

[Morsul the Dark]

any ideas on the office locations of the studios that are looking at the Hobbit?

[Tuor in Gondolin]

They are diverging from the books a bit to give Gandalf more backstory with the Necromancer. So they are adding to it, but not taking away. Jackson assured us that all 13 dwarves will be in the story, and they will stick as closely as possible to the original events of the book.

That's a reasonable change. But after some of PJ's "liberties" with LOTR
I'm rather skeptical. Presumably Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman will be
worked in (will Christopher Lee still be too ticked off with his character's
treatment to reprise his role?). And, of course, he could age Aragorn about
10 years to have Arwen and Aragorn appear.

And most important, what will his Hitchcockish cameos be?
One of the Master of Laketown's lackeys?