"The Hobbit" will become a trilogy, director Peter Jackson announced Monday on Facebook.
The move had been rumored last week, but the "Lord of the Rings" auteur confirmed the decision by saying that there was more story to tell than could be contained in the originally planned two films. He said the three movies will draw on related material in the appendices of "The Lord of the Rings," in addition to using J.R.R. Tolkien's original story, as a way to better explain the history of Middle Earth.
"We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance," Jackson wrote.
"So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of 'The Hobbit' films, I'd like to announce that two films will become three," he added.
That means that what Tolkien was able to complete in one book, will now take three films. There's an awful lot of plot in the classic book -- a treasure hunt story involving goblins, Wargs and a very menacing dragon -- but there's also an economic incentive to extend the scope of Jackson's return to Middle Earth.
For Warner Bros., which is backing the fantasy film through New Line in partnership with MGM, creating an extra "Hobbit" sequel will bolster a film slate that recently saw two of the studio's biggest franchises, Christopher Nolan's Batman films and the Harry Potter series, wrap up after nearly a decade of blockbuster grosses.
The first film in what is now a trilogy, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" will hit theaters on Dec. 13, 2012, with the second picture, "There and Back Again," premiering on Dec. 13, 2013. Jackson did not say when the third film will be released.
The films, which are prequels to "The Lord of the Rings," star Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and bring back Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf.
"It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, 'a tale that grew in the telling,'" Jackson wrote.
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #3 on Jul 30, 2012, 7:27pm »
They managed to fit the entire LOTR trilogy into three films while being surprisingly faithful to the original books (which IMO I thought were a little too long). But three movies for The Hobbit? I just hope they don't pad these like crazy.
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #4 on Jul 30, 2012, 7:42pm »
There is a lot of material to use. The big question is, can Jackson make it relevant to the story at hand?
I felt he did a good job with LotR so I am hopeful about the new films. Fantasy films are going through the same trial that science-fiction and superhero films did: they have decades of silly or poorly made films to overcome. If Jackson can knock another trilogy out of the park perhaps we'll see less "Dungeon Siege" and "Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie" and something a bit more along the lines of LotR or "Captain America" or "The Avengers" in quality.
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #5 on Jul 30, 2012, 8:14pm »
Speaking of Tolkien trilogies, for the last year, cable on demand has had "The Two Towers" on one premium channel or another, but never Fellowship or Return. I have no clue why.
They managed to fit the entire LOTR trilogy into three films while being surprisingly faithful to the original books (which IMO I thought were a little too long). But three movies for The Hobbit? I just hope they don't pad these like crazy.
This is my worry also. I don't need to see hours of wide shots of travelling dwarves with dramatic music or a million close ups sans-dialogue to show "emotional" facial expressions.
Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is online
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #8 on Jul 30, 2012, 10:28pm »
Remember that part of the plan is to bring in (1) scenes suggested but not done in the Hobbit, and (2) material from the appendix of the LotR.
The suggested scenes would include times when Gandalf leaves the dwarves. JRRT sort of leaves us hanging but PJ is supposed to bring some of these scenes to life, which is why he is bringing back characters such as Galadriel and Elrond.
As to the Appendix material, there are some complex timelines. Who knows where he'll take it.
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
Fantasy films are going through the same trial that science-fiction and superhero films did: they have decades of silly or poorly made films to overcome. If Jackson can knock another trilogy out of the park perhaps we'll see less "Dungeon Siege" and "Dungeons & Dragons: The Movie" and something a bit more along the lines of LotR or "Captain America" or "The Avengers" in quality.
What's funny is that when the LotR flicks were released, I thought of how there had been a huge influx of sci-fi material in the wake of Star Wars. I actually hoped there'd be an enormous amount of fantasy flicks, but that didn't seem to materialize to the extent that things like Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rodgers, Battle Beyond The Stars, StarCrash, and tons of others did in the late 70s to the early 80s. Likewise all the great Conan rip-offs in the early to mid 80s.
I don't really want to see 'serious' fantasy films with enormous budgets. I want fun stuff with lots of heart and energy (The Sword & The Sorcerer comes to mind, as an example of what I mean). I love all that stuff. I wanted a contemporary replay of that. I didn't really get it.
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #10 on Jul 31, 2012, 10:41am »
It's more than a little cynical to smilingly say "I'm doing it because I don't want to deprive you fans of any story!" when in fact this is simply a concession to studio distribution and marketing executives who incessantly demand more product for the pipeline, largely regardless of quality.
This is a money grab aimed at rewarding shareholders, not moviegoers. But I disliked the LotR films (so loud, so stupid), so my view arrives with bias.
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #11 on Jul 31, 2012, 12:10pm »
The Hobbit 3: The Search for More Money!
All kidding aside, I am worried that we will see some plot and pacing problems since this was planned to be two films and became three after they were already shooting. A similar thing happened on Lord of the Rings, where they had plotted it all out (three films), then began tinkering and changing story points as they shot each film, resulting in some serious awkwardness in places, especially later on. Kind of like painting oneself into a corner.
For example, originally they were going to intercut Frodo at Mount Doom with Aragorn battling Sauron (yeah, I know...), but then changed their minds. However, now we have Frodo at Mount Doom intercut with Aragorn fighting... a troll. Very anti-climactic and distracting, sapping the drama of the actual climax with the Ring every time they cut away. The Aragorn bit ideally should have been removed entirely after the plot change was made, but the on-the-fly tinkering blinded them to that. I worry we will see this type of thing again and the movies will suffer for it.
Still, I suppose it is cool to see we will get three more films. I'm happy for the movie fans if nothing else. The first set of films was flawed but still mostly better than I expected we would see (I expected a total disaster, if they ever got made at all!)
EDIT: Only after I posted did I realize the irony of this. The story ends up showing the negative effects of lust for riches, and yet that is probably the main reason they are making three movies instead of two (or one, let's be honest!)
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #12 on Jul 31, 2012, 6:58pm »
I look at it this way: 1. It's possible that these movies represent the last trip into movie-version Middle-earth ever. 2. I'd rather have it be too long than too short.
I figure he was working on the project and was finding that there were too many minutes of footage to chop into two movies. Rumor is that there will be stuff from the Appendicies in addition to those "what does Gandalf do while he is away" scenes. When you film something I assume there is no easy way to tell how many minutes of film correspond to pages of text. Some things write fast but film slow, others write slow and film fast. For example, spending 5 pages of text on describing the landscape can be accomplished in a 5-second pan-around. So as long as Peter Jackson has a story to tell, let him tell it.
Anyway. I have high hopes and 3x the Hobbit sounds better than 2x the Hobbit.
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #13 on Jul 31, 2012, 9:15pm »
A man may do both. For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day! —J.R.R. Tolkien
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Re: "The Hobbit" movie to be a trilogy « Reply #14 on Jul 31, 2012, 10:38pm »
When you film something I assume there is no easy way to tell how many minutes of film correspond to pages of text. Some things write fast but film slow, others write slow and film fast. For example, spending 5 pages of text on describing the landscape can be accomplished in a 5-second pan-around.
These films are storyboarded from beginning to end long before production begins, with comprehensive notes regarding shot length. That's how they schedule shooting, prep a budget, etc. The only left to chance is the weather.
The key consideration here is that, compared to LotR, there are two extra mouths to feed: Warner Bros. and MGM. I think New Line is a shell of what it once was and no longer handles distribution, which necessitated bringing in Warners to handle domestic (they handled extensive foreign distribution for LotR). MGM gets to ride along because I believe they are Hobbit rights holders dating back to the Zaentz animated feature. That's a lot of extra hands clamoring for a payout.
Don't be surprised if Gandalf's robes look like a NASCAR sponsorship, or if there's a scene of Bilbo shopping at Walmart to stock his pantry.
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