Jackson Mulls Hobbit Film

[Khephra]

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson told the Australian news.com.au Web site that he is now interested in helming a movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Jackson said that Rings studio New Line Cinema had yet to speak to him about The Hobbit and added there were some difficulties related to the rights for the book.

snip.........

Lord of the Rings executive producer Mark Ordesky confirmed to the site that "there could be a movie about The Hobbit. Enough said." Before that, however, Jackson will have to complete work on his upcoming remake of the classic SF movie King Kong.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2003-12/01/11.30.film

[everythingsxen]

1. YES! YES!

Do it Peter.. do it!

Hobbit is so awesome! I wanna see Smaug go to town! :evilgrin:

[bicentennial_baby]

2. !!!

I was just saying the other day that I wanted him to do this! I hope he does... :bounce:

Hey Kheph!

[Khephra]

4. Hi!

I'm feeling much better today! MUCH better! I'll write you back later on tonight.

:hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

5. Good to hear it!

DU has'nt been the same without ya! x(

[PVnRT]

3. There's a slight error in that article

Tolkein was working on pretty much everything Middle Earth-related at the same time - he didn't necessarily finish The Hobbit before starting on The Lord of the Rings.

[JackSwift]

9. Not true

He completed the Hobbit entirely before he considered writing LOTR because the publisher wanted a sequel and Tolkien wanted to try his hand at a full length adult story.

[Terran]

6. Another remake of King Kong?

Geez, is that something the world needs? :shrug:

[Khephra]

7. Normally, I'd say "no!"

But Jackson is going to expand a lot on Kong Island and that might make the difference.

Heck, it's a dream project of his and, due to his LotR work, I'm willing to give him a chance to win me over with it.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

8. Oh good God yes

there is a God.

[4_Legs_Good]

10. Yeah!!!! Jackson can destroy another piece of art!!!

I can't wait to hear Smaug come flying out from the Lonely Mountain as he hurtles towards Lake Town screaming...

"Looks like meat's back on the menu!!!"

I'm going to be ill.

Leave it alone Peter. Let someone with some talent do it.

david

*dodges tomatoes*

[ClintonTyree]

11. Not throwing a tomato............

but who, in your opinion, would do a better job? I think the're quite good but everyone's entitled to their opinion. Who would you suggest?

[4_Legs_Good]

12. Good question!

(sorry for the delay!)

I don't know who could do a reasonable job of The Hobbit, and I can assure you that a Hobbit which met with my expectations (as would a LotR) would likely fail miserably at the box office.

The Hobbit is acutally harder, IMO, than LotR, because it's got more heart to it, and more innocence, and it's a more juvenile story - so it would require someone who could somehow balance the non-talking down to prose with the lighter fare, without it getting too smart or too stupid.

The good part is that the visuals are the most trivial aspect now (who would ever have thought this possible???). Jackson and Co have done a great job of bringing Alan Lee's and the other gent's artwork to life, so we know that it's certainly possible.

I think I'd let Peter S. Beagle write the screenplay (which would need very little actual writing). Goodness, but who could direct it? Hmmmmmmm. Certainly NONE of the big names, no Lucas, Howard, Speilberg. It would have to be someone with a softer touch (and more talent, Speilberg aside).


All that said, I'm a purist (well, mostly), and I think of paramount importance is to retain as much as possible (beyond what might be lucrative) of the language of the text. Don't change a word if not necessary. Don't change a plot device if it can be avoided.

In my opinion, classics like, for example, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" - the short Animated version, TOWERS above "The Grinch" or the like, simply because rather than using the story as a premise for the film, the animated version used the text of the book, and "brought it to life". The charm of Seuss, Tolkien and even Shakespeare is, IMO, the language. The pictures are nice, the plot is great, moral super, but the key is the language - stick to that, and how can you go wrong?

I also think the old animated version of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" will utterly tower over anything that a $100M budget will eventually produce in Hollywood.

All that said, I bear a personal grudge against Jackson because of all the popularity he's gotten, when, IMO, Bakshi did a FAR superior job of FotR and TTT 25 years ago. Now, if that doesn't make me enemies I don't know what will. Though 100x rather see a LotR part II by Bakshi, I will say that I don't think he's the man for The Hobbit.

david