Thread: The Hobbit will be a trilogy

Peter Jackson is adding a third film to what was planned to be the two-part series, The Hobbit.
The director of the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings movies says after viewing a cut of the first film and part of the second there is room for a third.
Jackson says in a statement that a lot of JRR Tolkien's tale of Bilbo Baggins would remain untold if a third film wasn't made.
The films are set in the fictional world of Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings.
"We recognised that the richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, gave rise to a simple question: do we tell more of the tale?" Jackson said in a statement. "And the answer from our perspective as filmmakers and fans was an unreserved 'yes'.
"We know how much of the tale of Bilbo Baggins, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur would remain untold if we did not fully realise this complex and wonderful adventure," he said.
Warner Bros and MGM will continue their partnership to make the trilogy.
The first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, hits cinemas in December, while the second, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is set for release in December next year.
The third film will come out in mid-2014.
All three movies are being shot in digital 3D in New Zealand.
Principal photography recently finished on the first two films.
Jackson, his wife Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro are listed as co-writers of the first two films.

Jackson to make The Hobbit into a trilogy

Wingnut films only has rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings so the extra material will be drawn from the LOTR appendixes concerning the actions of other agents outside of the storyline of The Hobbit. The rise of the Necromancer (Sauron in disguise), the hunt for Gollum, meeting of Aragorn and Arwen, appearance by Legolas in Mirkwood are all possibly in the films now.

I'm out. I've read the book, and I'm happy to leave it at that. This is all about squeezing every last penny from consumers.

Originally Posted by Mr Pants

I'm out. I've read the book, and I'm happy to leave it at that. This is all about squeezing every last penny from consumers.

possibly but not entirely. if you map the length of a long-ish short story onto the standard 120-page (2 hour) screenplay, Heart of Darkness is too long. LOTR really should have been a series like Game of Thrones if they were out to please the people who care about 'faithfulness to the book.'

Originally Posted by Umbuku

appearance by Legolas in Mirkwood are all possibly in the films now.

This is already in the can. Look up the behind the scenes updates, they are wonderful.

This news is only surprising in the fact that it was only decided now, after principal photography for the two planned films has finished.

If you were following this entire drama you may remember that it was originally planned, when Del Toro was directing, to be a trilogy to include all the action that happens outside of the pages of the book. Many people don't remember that Gandalf left the party before they entered Mirkwood and didn't reappear until just before the battle of the five armies. Tolkien included a few details of what was going on in the appendixes of LOTR and this is what they have decided to expand upon.

Now they already include a lot of that information in the first two films, that's how they stretched it to two feature length films. Galadriel meets with Elrond and Gandalf in Rivendell in the first film. They have also filmed Gandalf entering the dungeons of the Necromancer to see Thorin's father, that's part of the book but only as Gandalf retelling what happened.

So what I'm thinking is that the second film may not end with the battle of the five armies now. They may even edit the first film to stretch the story arc of the Hobbit over the three films for the sake of continuity.

I'm glad they decided to do it. I can't get enough Middle Earth.

This divorce has been systematically driven by the logic of Hollywood. "Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed into the absurdity of our time," Christopher Tolkien observes sadly. "The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has overwhelmed me. The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away."

My Father's "Eviscerated" Work - Son Of Hobbit Scribe J.R.R. Tolkien Finally Speaks Out -

The Tolkien family story.

^ Chris is too old to fathom the much greater reach his father's work has now. Sure, there is a superficial element, but the overall depth of study, discussion and appreciation of Tolkien's work is at an all time high.

I am acquainted with a literature doctorate Tolkien purist who would argue for hundreds of pages about that. He believes Tolkien's collected writings to be the pinnacle of all human literary achievement and despises the films and merchandise for cheapening the legacy of his work.

As for Chris and the other Tolkiens. They never should have sold the rights.

Originally Posted by Umbuku

He believes Tolkien's collected writings to be the pinnacle of all human literary achievement

Oooh, oooh!

Bring him out for a drink, Umbuku. Go on, go on, please....

That would be a mighty night out.

No he's a senior historian for the US Marines.

Met him on a roleplayers forum.

Military historians are an odd bunch.

Still have their lockers of plastic soldiers proudly displayed next to their collections of shell casings.

Originally Posted by Umbuku

No he's a senior historian for the US Marines.

Met him on a roleplayers forum.

Well you tell him from me. Ian Fleming was better than Tolkien for a million reasons, yeah?

Right.

Fleming: James Bond. 007. License to kill. Aston Martin and Q's secret weapons.

Tolkien: Small dwarf creatures with shit weapons. They walk a lot.

Fleming: James Bond has loads of really fit women that he shags in places like Monte Carlo, yeah?

Tolkien: No sex in Lord of the Rings.

And there's none of that quasi-religious bollocks with James Bond. When it comes to analysing the human condition, Fleming showed us that every other bird works for the KGB, so don't leave your Walther with your wallet when you're having a shower. Simple, almost obvious, but it took the genius of Fleming to point it out. That's fucking useful stuff. Not all this good and evil bollocks.

These fucking academics. Not a clue. Not a fucking clue.