The Tolkien Trust and HarperCollins are suing New Line for money they feel their owed on the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. As part of the suit, the estate wants the rights to The Hobbit back. I’d like to give the Tolkien family a hard time about this, but New Line tried to screw Peter Jackson and previous rights holder out Saul Zaentz of cash too. They may just be jerks. But dammit, Jackson had agreed to produce The Hobbit film. It was scheduled to start filming as a two-part series in 2009, due out in 2010. Let’s get this show back on the road!
February 13, 2008
February 14, 2008 at 7:22 am
I love this blog…lol.
I was a huge fan of LOTR years before there were even whispers of the movies and literally counted every second before I saw the first one and will never forget the thrills I felt during the opening sequence of the 2nd one. So I ahve been very excited for The Hobbit ever since I heard about it.
But could it not be argued that all this fighting over money has essentially tainted the spirit of Tolkien’s tale? Part of the reason the first movies did so well was they were considered underdogs. No movie studio wanted the project and faithful readers of the books such as myself may have thought that no one could possibly give the books the credit and scope they were due. Jackson overcame these obstacles and rocked the world of Hollywood and its public following. If the Hobbit ever comes to pass, it will not contain the same verve since there are a horde of money lovers out there nit-picking Tolkien’s epic stories for every dime, nickel and penny.
February 14, 2008 at 8:46 am
Peter Jackson took so many liberties with the Lord of the Rings that you could almost argue that it was a different story. No doubt he plans a similar massacre on “The Hobbit”? In that case, why not just go all-out and call it something else?
February 15, 2008 at 3:53 pm
@Justin: Thanks, we like the blog too! I would say you may have a point about Fellowship fo the Ring as an underdog, but by the time Return of the kind rolled around, we knew we had a good thing going. I want them to make the hobbit particularly because if they’re making two films, you know they’re making every page of that book into the movie. Imagine the Tolkien movie marathons!
@Lorenzo: You could *almost* argue it’s a different story, but I wouldn’t. Books and movie were pretty close. I want them to make a Hobbit film so we can still have Ian McKellan as Gandalf.