@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.

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.