As buzz is building over The Hobbit, the filmmakers have finally confirmed that The Hobbit will, as rumored, be split into two films. This comes from directors Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson, who say of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, “We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur.”

Peter Jackson also commented that “We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie. The essential brief was to do The Hobbit, and it allows us to make The Hobbit in a little more style, if you like, of the [LOTR] trilogy.” Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Jackson searched and searched for the perfect writer to pen The Hobbit – but guess what? The best writer(s) for the job was right under his nose. Peter Jackson and The Hobbit director, Guillermo del Toro, have decided they’ll take on the task, adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit prequel into two films.

Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro won’t go it alone – getting help from Lord of the Rings Best Screenplay winners, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Read the rest of this entry »

The making of The Hobbit may be on hold due to a lawsuit filed by Christopher Tolkien, the 83 -year-old son of J.R.R. Tolkien. The younger Tolkien is in a court battle trying to keep The Hobbit from being made.

According to Christopher Tolkien, his family is still owed money from New Line Cinema — over $150 million from the purchase rights and 7.5% of the profits. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, honestly. Could anyone other than Sir Ian McKellen take on the role of Gandalf in the upcoming film The Hobbit (and its sequel), directed by Guillermo del Toro?

Ian McKellan confirmed the news, saying, “Yes, it’s true. I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf.”

“But as to how it’s going to work over two films and what’s going to happen on screen, well Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yet – I can tell you it’s going to be amazing though.”

It’s been confirmed: The Hobbit will be directed by Guillermo del Toro.

New Line Cinema made the announcement yesterday that Guillermo del Toro will be taking over The Lord of the Rings legacy from director Peter Jackson. The Hobbit is J.R.R. Tolkien’s pre-Lord of the Rings masterpiece. Guillermo del Toro will also direct a sequel to The Hobbit, a look at the 60 years prior to The Fellowship of the Ring. Read the rest of this entry »

It appears that Guillermo del Toro has not in fact been confirmed for the two upcoming The Hobbit movies. At least considering that the Hollywood Reporter is saying that he’s in talks to direct them back to back. He’s on the shortlist., and considering what he’s done with at least Pan’s Labryinth, Hellboy and Blade 2, I’d love to see him direct. Peter Jackson has previously indicated that because of other obligations, he’s only executive producing.

While there’s only one The Hobbit book, which takes place before The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy (which Jackson directed), there are two movies planned. The first would follow the book. I’m guessing that the second might be a speculative story that bridges The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Read the rest of this entry »

MTV has posted their choices for casting for the upcoming two The Hobbit movies, and they’re not all what I would have expected. I guess you get so used to the characters in the LOTR (Lord of the Rings) movie trilogy, but The Hobbit takes place long before. Some of the characters appear in both stories, though in much younger years.

• Smaug: CGI creation – no surprise there.
• Thorin Oakenshield: Brian Cox; alternate: Ben Kingsley as an alternate if lack of stockiness isn’t an issue.
• Bard the Bowman: Russell Crowe or Christian Bale; alternate: Gerard Butler.
• Thranduil: Orlando Bloom cameo, else David Bowie; alternate: Stellan Skarsgard.
• Beorn: Robbie Coltrane (except he was Hagrid in Harry Potter) or Alfred Molina; Bruce Campbell.

What do you think? Do you agree with MTV’s picks?

If you’re looking for some great Hobbit-related prints, check out David T. Wenzel’s of gorgeous, rich gallery of Hobbit watercolor paintings. Prints are available online, payable via PayPal.

A video clip of the 1977 animated The Hobbit is shown below, set to Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On. Lyricist and guitarist Jimmy Page was often influenced by fantastical stories, especially that of Tolkien’s. If you listen carefully to Ramble On, you can hear Robert Plant mention “Gollum”.

Since Peter Jackson has other obligations, he’ll not be directing the two upcoming “The Hobbit” movies. He will executive produce The Hobbit, now that he’s settled his lawsuit with New Line Cinema. Directing duties are falling to Sam Raimi, who’s probably best known for directing the first three Spiderman films, Evil Dead, The Messengers, 30 Days of Night (video clip below), and various other horror filcks.

Filming is supposed to start immediately. Raimi is also directing Wizard’s First Rule for 2008, a TV mini-series based on Terry Goodkind’s popular “Sword of Truth” adventure-fantasy novels. In addition, he’s producing several TV series and movies. 2008: Wizard’s First Rule, Drag Me to Hell, Dibbuk Box; 2009: Armored, The Grudge 3, The Evil Dead, Priest, and an untitled project.

Lovers of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic Lord of the Rings books or even the acclaimed trilogy of movies directed by Peter Jackson should be happy to hear that another Tolkien novel, 1937’s The Hobbit, will be turned into a live-action movie. Unfortunately, Jackson will not direct, but he will be the executive producer.

There are actually going to be two movies filmed together, though no word if it’ll be in New Zealand like the Rings trilogy. The first will be released in 2010 and the second in 2011.

The Hobbit is a prequel to the Rings books, and follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, the uncle of Frodo Baggins, who was the main character in the Rings books and movies.

There was an animated TV movie, The Hobbit, in 1977, of which a clip is below.