THE HOBBIT (2012/2013): News, Rumors, Pics Till Release

[InklingStar]

One point I like, which comes from expanding the screentime a bit, is that they want to play up the Elf-Dwarf mistrust as a major theme of the story here.

That is, because Tolkien hadn't written LOTR yet when he made "The Hobbit", the Elves are kind of funny in it (singing in Rivendell) -- only later would he explain the Elf-Dwarf hatred.

Though this is a good observation, Tolkien explains quite a bit of the dwarf/elf animosity right there in The Hobbit:

"In ancient days they (the Elves) had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. It is only fair to say that the dwarves gave a different account, and said that they only took what was their due, for the elf-king had bargained with them to shape his raw gold and silver, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay."
The Hobbit, page 168

The actual story of this event can be found in The Silmarillion, specifically "Of The Ruin of Doriath." The elf-king Thingol contracts with some dwarves to set a silmaril into a necklace called the nauglimir, which had been made by the dwarves for a fellow elf-king who was now dead. The dwarves try to steal it, claiming ownership, as well as lured by the silmaril, and they assassinate Thingol when he protests. Thus began the hatred between elves and dwarves.

When Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, much of the stories that would later be published in The Silmarillion were already extant in one form or another. So he made little connections throughout what was supposed to be a children's story to his greater legendarium, including the way Elrond notes that Gandalf and Thorin's swords once belonged to his great-grandfather Turgon, the elf-king of Gondolin.

 

[Set Harth]

And of course, Sting was also from Gondolin.

 

[Captain Craig]

Hey, if Hobbit 1&2 are as great as they seem I don't see any reason why TPTB wouldn't try to work out a deal and do something with the Silmarillion. Cash Cow, keep it milking as long as you can. Even if it's just one movie to test the waters. It's my understanding that it's a collection of tales right? So if something is done with part of it, it's a hit, try and do another.

 

[InklingStar]

Hey, if Hobbit 1&2 are as great as they seem I don't see any reason why TPTB wouldn't try to work out a deal and do something with the Silmarillion. Cash Cow, keep it milking as long as you can. Even if it's just one movie to test the waters. It's my understanding that it's a collection of tales right? So if something is done with part of it, it's a hit, try and do another.

Grief counselors will be standing by at theaters showing The Children of Hurin...

 

[Captain Craig]

I had to wiki Children of Hurin.
I'm not getting the grief counselor thing.
Is this because Tolkein didn't actually finish Hurin himself?
How does that tie into what I suggested about Silmarillion?

 

[Set Harth]

I'm not getting the grief counselor thing.

It's a tragedy.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I'm still not entirely convinced that they won't do that "bridge film" that was originally rumored to be the second part of this film project (before they instead decided to split The Hobbit). The studio's going to look at all that money these two movies will bring in and go "Why not make another one?"

I thought they already incorporated all/most of the "bridge film" stuff into the "Hobbit" (like what was Gandalf up to, the attack of the White Council,...)?
I mean: It's possible of course, but they are running out of things they have the rights to.

Not that I'm trying to give the studio ideas or anything, but if they really wanted to try and squeeze as much money out of this franchise as they could, the only other potential movie I can think of would be to do something about Aragorn during his younger days, when he's first made aware of his heritage and when he first meets Arwen. After that he went off and had several adventures, such as serving King Thengel in Rohan, clashing with young Denethor in Gondor, etc. They could also incorporate Aragorn's search for Gollum after he escaped Barad-dûr; he eventually caught Gollum and gave him over to the Elves in Mirkwood, from whom Gollum later escaped.

I'm not saying I'm absolutely in favor of such a thing happening, but if they really, really did want to do another movie after these, that's probably their best option.

But at the end of the day, all of those vignettes don't add up to a whole story. I don't see a bridging film really working in regards to just Aragorn or really anyone in general.

Hey, if Hobbit 1&2 are as great as they seem I don't see any reason why TPTB wouldn't try to work out a deal and do something with the Silmarillion. Cash Cow, keep it milking as long as you can. Even if it's just one movie to test the waters. It's my understanding that it's a collection of tales right? So if something is done with part of it, it's a hit, try and do another.

That's not going to happen because Christopher Tolkien has such a strong disdain with PJ's take on his father's work that he would never release the rights. Christopher believes that his father's work can not be properly transferred to the silver screen to do the work justice.

 

[Captain Craig]

Hey, if Hobbit 1&2 are as great as they seem I don't see any reason why TPTB wouldn't try to work out a deal and do something with the Silmarillion. Cash Cow, keep it milking as long as you can. Even if it's just one movie to test the waters. It's my understanding that it's a collection of tales right? So if something is done with part of it, it's a hit, try and do another.

That's not going to happen because Christopher Tolkien has such a strong disdain with PJ's take on his father's work that he would never release the rights. Christopher believes that his father's work can not be properly transferred to the silver screen to do the work justice.

Wow, really? He doesn't think PJ's take has done his fathers work any justice? I know I'm not a dyed in the wool fan but they are beautiful films that capture what I know of them. So basically Christopher is the Alan Moore of his own universe. It's not like Uwe Boll is adapting them.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

So basically Christopher is the Alan Moore of his own universe.

Yeah, that more or less sums it up, unfortunately.

 

[Skywalker]

I thought they already incorporated all/most of the "bridge film" stuff into the "Hobbit" (like what was Gandalf up to, the attack of the White Council,...)?
I mean: It's possible of course, but they are running out of things they have the rights to.

Not that I'm trying to give the studio ideas or anything, but if they really wanted to try and squeeze as much money out of this franchise as they could, the only other potential movie I can think of would be to do something about Aragorn during his younger days, when he's first made aware of his heritage and when he first meets Arwen. After that he went off and had several adventures, such as serving King Thengel in Rohan, clashing with young Denethor in Gondor, etc. They could also incorporate Aragorn's search for Gollum after he escaped Barad-dûr; he eventually caught Gollum and gave him over to the Elves in Mirkwood, from whom Gollum later escaped.

I'm not saying I'm absolutely in favor of such a thing happening, but if they really, really did want to do another movie after these, that's probably their best option.

But at the end of the day, all of those vignettes don't add up to a whole story. I don't see a bridging film really working in regards to just Aragorn or really anyone in general.

Agreed.

It would work better as a TV series.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Oh, well, that's a whole other can of worms there.

Someday, I like to think BBC will decide to huge-budgeted productions of both the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises. Some day. I dream....

 

[Worf2DS9]

What a glorious trailer! It's uncanny how much McKellan as Gandalf looks like he just stepped off the FOTR set. In that scene where Bilbo asks him if he can promise that Bilbo will return, the way Gandalf looks at him and answers....well, it looks like he could have been talking to Frodo at Bag End! Another cool thing is now the Hobbit references in FOTR will have new visual references to link up with, which will add to the pleasure of those moments.

 

[Saul]

So basically Christopher is the Alan Moore of his own universe.

Yeah, that more or less sums it up, unfortunately.

Is that really true? Didn't he do interviews for some of the docs on the DVD?

What does Christopher think would do justice to those books? When he sold the rights did he envision something better than what PJ did because I don't think ANYBODY did.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

So basically Christopher is the Alan Moore of his own universe.

Yeah, that more or less sums it up, unfortunately.

Is that really true? Didn't he do interviews for some of the docs on the DVD?

What does Christopher think would do justice to those books? When he sold the rights did he envision something better than what PJ did because I don't think ANYBODY did.

Christopher didn't sell the rights. His father did because he needed the money and was sure that no one would ever be able to make a movie from his work.

 

[JarodRussell]

The can be so glad Jackson did it. We could have gotten Stanley Kubrik's majorly fucked up version with the Beatles as the four Hobbits.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

The can be so glad Jackson did it. We could have gotten Stanley Kubrik's majorly fucked up version with the Beatles as the four Hobbits.

I really have to wonder what the Beatles' Lord of the Rings movie would have been like, though. John as Gollum? George as Gandalf? Patrick McGoohan as Aragorn? It would have been a travesty to Tolkien's work, but just imagine the soundtrack album!

 

[Gojira]

What a glorious trailer! It's uncanny how much McKellan as Gandalf looks like he just stepped off the FOTR set. In that scene where Bilbo asks him if he can promise that Bilbo will return, the way Gandalf looks at him and answers....well, it looks like he could have been talking to Frodo at Bag End! Another cool thing is now the Hobbit references in FOTR will have new visual references to link up with, which will add to the pleasure of those moments.

I can't wait for when the two Hobbit movies are on DVD then I can have a long Marathon of Tolkien based movies!!

 

[Deckerd]

A marathon of stories without women except for one shieldmaiden, an elf who had to be written in from the footnotes and a walk-on part for the elf queen.

 

[Klaus]

Something that hadn't occurred to me before: Extended Editions!

 

[Set Harth]

A marathon of stories without women except for one shieldmaiden, an elf who had to be written in from the footnotes and a walk-on part for the elf queen.

Don't forget Rose Cotton, some other female elves, the women in Rohan including Freda & her mother, and the female citizens of Minas Tirith.