Will Peter Jackson or anyone else make "The Hobbit"?? (MERGED THREAD) (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

Just wondering with the success of the LOTR. Will Peter Jackson or New Line make the Hobbit. And if they do. I hope they can get Ian McKellen to reprise his role. Has anyone heard anything?

 

[Simon Massey]

the latest I have heard is that Jackson wants to do The Hobbit at some point but the rights to the book are tied up with a number of studios as well as New Line I think

Ian McKellen has already stated he wants to do Gandalf.

 

[DaveBB]

Doesn't Harvey Weinstein (from Mirimax) have his slimey fat paws in the LOTR cookie jar becuase he bought some or all of the rights long ago. He's listed as one of the producers even though I read he supposedly had nothing to do with production.

 

[DavidBL]

From the most recent fan mag interview with Peter Jackson:

, it would have to be distributed in the U.S. by United Artists. It could be distributed by New Line in foreign territories. I don't know about the video rights and who that would come under, but the film rights are a little bit encumbered at the moment, and I have no idea if New Line and United Artists have had any conversations.

PJ then discusses how he's a little surprised that New Line hasn't brought it up given the success of the LOTR trilogy, and that he would be interested in participating.

The whole interview (scanned) is
here.

 

[todd s]

If they decide to make the Hobbit. Who should play Bilbo? I think Ian Holm is too old. Also, besides Gandalf, who from LOTR would be in the Hobbit?

 

[DavidBL]

Also, besides Gandalf, who from LOTR would be in the Hobbit?

Elrond. Relatively speaking, he doesn't age much between the two books. Hopefully Hugo Weaving would be willing, it's not a huge role for The Hobbit but it is there.

Also Gloin father of Gimli (probably one of the older looking, non speaking dwarves at the Council of Elrond in FOTR), but like Bilbo, would be younger and a different actor could easily be used. And his part was so small in FOTR most casual viewers would never make the connection that it was the same character.

EDIT:

And of course Gollum, who's already in the computer but you'd need Andy Serkis back to keep the movement style and voice consistent.

 

[Ben Osborne]

Saruman and Galadriel participant in attack on Dol Guldor along with Gandalf and Elrond. I would think that the attack would be included in the movie, even though we only hear a secondhand account of it from Gandalf in the book. It would be a cool way to establish more links between the Hobbit and LOTR.

 

[Andy_S]

I think Ian Holm is too old.

Once Bilbo found the ring, he stopped aging (or almost stopped) so the Bilbo we see in Fellowship is very close to what he looked like when he found the ring in the Hobbit. If he played the part and was made up to look like the flashback in Fellowship (when he first finds the ring) I'd be okay with that.

 

[Skyler]

I was wondering if Peter Jackson would make The Hobbit after the trilogy is complete. It would make PERFECT SENSE. I was an excellent book that would make an outstanding prequel.

 

[Eric C D]

I think Mr. Jackson has done his bit - I won't be surprised if this is a "no." But I think the movie studio would be smart to use the in-place infrastructure, hire another director, and do it. Perhaps Mr. Jackson would exec produce in some role and help out (maybe select a good director and spend some time with him so that the feel is similar).

Just dreaming,

Eric

 

[Dick]

Yeah. I enjoy the Rankin-Bass TV movie from the 70's, but it certainly isn't the detailed epic we would all like to have as a lead-in to the Jackson trilogy. My guess is that someone might tackle this project within a year or two of ROTK release, but I'd be surprised as hell if it was Jackson.

 

[Lew Crippen]

You might want to check out this thread which asks the same question. [Admin. note: The threads have now been merged.]

There are plenty of other threads that include this same discussion, but I don’t remember which right now.

 

[Patrick McCart]

The big question is how long will it be before this thread is moved to Movies.

 

[John Mansor]

I think it would be perfect if they used Ian Holm. But it seems unlikely considering the movie isn't even in production.

 

[todd s]

They can't use Ian Holm. You know Hollywood? They need someone young so they can make a sequel if the Hobbit is a big success. :p)

 

[Joshua_Y]

Ian has already played young Bilbo on FOTR in the prologue...so why not play him in Hobbit!

 

[Mike Graham]

I can't see Jackson being interested in a fantasy epic, let alone a Tolkien adventure, for a long, long time. However, I wouldn't be surprised if maybe he became interested in doing a prequel after he's made King Kong, or some more character driven pieces like Heavenly Creatures in a decade or so (remember, Lucas made The Phantom Menace 16 years after Return Of The Jedi). While it seems unlikely he would want to be involved with the project, many fans a decade ago thought Lord Of The Rings or Spiderman would never make it to the big screen either.

 

[Dane Marvin]

Yeah, I was just thinking about how this probably is the wrong forum for this... unless we start mulling over what would be included in The Hobbit DVD if it were ever made.

I'm sure there's a massive amount of speculation on this from very good sources at The One Ring Net

 

[Brenton]

If, by any chance, Peter Jackson isn't willing and/or able to direct, I have the perfect idea for who should. Everyone's favorite hobbit-turned-amateur-filmmaker Sean Astin! I think that would go over a lot better with fans than some stranger, as Sean already has such a huge LOTR connection.

 

[JasonTil]

There is a big difference between being an "amateur filmmaker" and directing a big budget feature film. No studio in their right minds is going to risk this gem on a first-time director.