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[Memles]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=5607

Essentially, MGM owns the Story rights, and New Line was unable to purchase them. However, if the merger goes through, essentially Peter Jackson and his team will be able to create The Hobbit for the big screen.

I say be able to...because it's not an easy task. LOTR co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have been vocal that adapting the book into a screenplay would be pure hell. When it comes to a storyline its all there. It's a very linear book in that way, and straightforward story-wise. But Tolkien packed it full of similarly named dwarves, and a helluva lot of them. For this reason, I'd expect to see one or two cut out if they choose to go ahead with the movie.

 

[Phoenix]

That and getting film rights to the hobbit wouldn't be a wise reason for the two companies to merge. I doubt the movie will make 6 billion plus debts

 

[Alucard]

We don't need a Hobbit movie. The book is fine and I just don't see it translating over well onto the big screen. It's a much more humble story than LotR and far less grand.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

The Digital Bits had an update over this too.

This could be bad for Sony and the rest of the Blue-Ray group. If I remember correctly, Warner Brother is a supporter of HD-DVD and this could help them with making that the next format. I always believed that in the end the format that gets the most support from the film industry would win. After all, who cares if you own the better technology if all of your favorite movies are on the other format.

 

[Ecrofirt]

We *do* need a hobbit movie, that way I can finally cosplay at the midnight showing. I make a perfect hobbit!

 

[DJ Demon J]

We don't need a Hobbit movie. The book is fine and I just don't see it translating over well onto the big screen. It's a much more humble story than LotR and far less grand.

!!! You must not be a fan of LOTR. Any LOTR fan would love to see The Hobbit with the same production values as the LOTR trilogy.

 

[Memles]

!!! You must not be a fan of LOTR. Any LOTR fan would love to see The Hobbit with the same production values as the LOTR trilogy.

Couldn't agree more. The Hobbit isn't as grand, mind you, but it is a tale of its own. Simply imagining what Weta could do with Smaug and his descent onto Lake Town...wow. It is pretty well a traveller's tale, a series of eventful happenings strung together to create an engaging ride. The book is not full of mythology, lore or any gigantic wars. Until the very end, it is in fact a very personal story, and only at the final battle does it escalate into something even remotely like the LOTR series. But seeing the production values and quality that Jackson put into the Trilogy instilled on The Hobbit would be an amazing thing.

 

[Alucard]

I dunno. I GUESS I can see it working but they would have to be really careful. The Hobbit is far more light-hearted than LotR (IMO) which is why I don't think it would work well with the same type of production as LotR. Blah, whatever. I'm sure it's going to happen eventually and I'll probably end up eating my words.

 

[Memles]

I dunno. I GUESS I can see it working but they would have to be really careful. The Hobbit is far more light-hearted than LotR (IMO) which is why I don't think it would work well with the same type of production as LotR. Blah, whatever. I'm sure it's going to happen eventually and I'll probably end up eating my words.

Jackson was able to pull off Hobbiton with ease...the light-hearted moments before we learn of the ring's power are no doubt indicative of what The Hobbit would be, and thus I feel that Jackson understands The Hobbit well enough to know that much.

Plus, we can see what Elrond is like when his world isn't being threatened by doom. Seriously, it would be interesting to see if Weaving could play light-hearted with the character.

 

[snaildog]

I wonder if there's any chance at all that Ian Holm would do it? Even if he does look a bit too old I think it'd be for the best. Bilbo is about 50 in the book anyway.

The only other characters from LOTR are Gandalf, Elrond and Gollum right?

 

[Dan]

If The Hobbit is made as a film, maybe Peter Jackson will do us a favor and make it good...

 

[ManaByte]

The Digital Bits had an update over this too.

This could be bad for Sony and the rest of the Blue-Ray group. If I remember correctly, Warner Brother is a supporter of HD-DVD and this could help them with making that the next format. I always believed that in the end the format that gets the most support from the film industry would win. After all, who cares if you own the better technology if all of your favorite movies are on the other format.

While it would be a small boost for Blue-Ray, Sony is just after the Bond franchise. They have been for years, even before DVD was a glimmer in their eye.

 

[Eminem]

If The Hobbit is made as a film, maybe Peter Jackson will do us a favor and make it good...

In the vast minority you are.

 

[xabre]

I wonder if there's any chance at all that Ian Holm would do it? Even if he does look a bit too old I think it'd be for the best. Bilbo is about 50 in the book anyway.

You know it would make sense since the ring was supposed to stop him aging although they did have his face taped back or something in the LOTR prologue to make him look younger. Could Weta 'youngify' him with CG?

 

[AeroGod]

Man, I would love to see it. The Hobbit is my favorite story of all time, even more then LotR. But I would want it all, and there is no way they could get it done in a 3-3 1/2 hour movie IMO. They'd have to cut tons of shit out. That would make me sad

 

[Optimistic]

They wouldn't have to cut that much out. Far less than they cut out of the LOTR trilogy, anyway. Have you guys even read LOTR/The Hobbit? The Hobbit would translate into a film much more easily than LOTR, simply because the tale is much shorter, there isn't much backstory to deal with, and quite frankly it's much more tightly written.

 

[Memles]

They wouldn't have to cut that much out. Far less than they cut out of the LOTR trilogy, anyway. Have you guys even read LOTR/The Hobbit? The Hobbit would translate into a film much more easily than LOTR, simply because the tale is much shorter, there isn't much backstory to deal with, and quite frankly it's much more tightly written.

Agreed...having read them both, The Hobbit is essentially a linear story. Sure, there's a little bit of backstory regarding the Dwarves, but that's pretty well it. Hell, we don't even know who Gandalf is.

On Ian Holm...I'd personally think they'd recast the role. It will be at least 2006 before they'll even be able to start thinking about this (If the deal even goes through), with King Kong taking up all their time, so it will only be then when they'll be able to consider filming. And Ian Holm will likely end up too old to do the physical parts of the role. There's quite a lot he'll have to do.

On another note, it might also be hard because of the amount of scale doubles they'll need, considering the insanely large amount of dwarves.