The J.R.R. Tolkien Topic (publications and adaptations)

Forostar

Forostar

Ancient Mariner
:yey: :yey:

Jackson Back in 'Hobbit' Via New Line, MGM

Del Toro linked to 'The Hobbit'

Guillermo del Toro should be the right man! Excellent.

EDIT:
Originally, back in 2007, this thread was especially opened because of the then forthcoming movie (cycle) for Tolkien's The Hobbit. For years it had the title "The Hobbit on the big screen!"

Now I thought it would be appropriate to "upgrade" this topic to everything related to Tolkien. Books, films, games, you name it.
 
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Great to see Peter Jackson's involvement is much smaller than in The Lord of the Rings. So maybe it'll actually be decent, though I doubt it.
 
Peter Jackson did many things in The Lord of the Rings that I didn't care for; however, visually, it was very appealing.  The CG was fairly good for the time, and the locales and costumes were absolutely stellar.  The casting was quite good.

With The Hobbit being a much shorter story, it should not be too difficult to keep closer to the actual plotline.
 
LooseCannon said:
... visually, it was very appealing...
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Oh, it certainly was. That's one of Jackson's problems, he's the kind of director who really should have been a visual effects supervisor. Not as bad as, say, George Lucas, but several steps down the path.

What he fails at is directing characters. Even if you ignore a number of irritating changes to the plot, his version of The Lord of the Rings suffered greatly from bad characterization. It was lifeless, incoherent and unsubtle. An epic of such proportions requires a much more skilled director to do it justice.

I'm not saying Jackson is terrible, but he is not a top class director and hopefully whoever does The Hobbit will be closer to one.
 
Shadow said:
..his version of The Lord of the Rings suffered greatly from bad characterization. It was lifeless, incoherent and unsubtle. An epic of those proportions requires a much more skilled director to do it justice.

I'm not saying Jackson is terrible, but he is not a top class director and hopefully whoever does The Hobbit will be closer to one.
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I think he was the only director who proved to have the needed vison and overview (total navigation & control) of such a terribly big production. No one else has done it (and I doubt that anyone else can so easily). I also disagree with you on the cast. Full of life, subtle and coherent.
 
This should be nice. I LOVE the LOTR triology. I don't keep tabs on every last detail like some people here do ( :smartarse: you know who you are), but it should be great to watch the story about Bilbo and Smeagle and the very beginnings of the epic journey of the ring.
 
I'm glad it will be 2 films. In this way, hopefully there will be enough time to follow the book well.
 
Hell, I'll go see it.  I've read the book and even though it is not in my taste, I think the movie would be interesting.  I rather enjoyed watching LOTR trilogy, as well.
 
Forostar said:
It was the best!

I like everything Jackson did in the LOTR-trilogy, apart from certain changes in the storyline.
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I agree.

Forostar said:
I think he was the only director who proved to have the needed vison and overview (total navigation & control) of such a terribly big production. No one else has done it (and I doubt that anyone else can so easily). I also disagree with you on the cast. Full of life, subtle and coherent.
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I agree.

Forostar said:
I'm glad it will be 2 films. In this way, hopefully there will be enough time to follow the book well.
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I agree.

nuff said.
 
I was hoping he would direct it, but oh well, I hope whoever does is up to the task. I agree with Forostar, Jackson was the only director to really take up such a massive project and did it well. I'm really looking forward to these two movies. I think it's rather sad that the truest version has been a cartoon...
 
An update from Total Film on the project:

“Well, the reality is that the Hobbit story has broken early because the negotiations have not ended and The Hobbit is not a sure thing.”

That’s Guillermo del Toro setting the record straight. With all the talk flying about the Pan’s Labyrinth helmer apparent sign-on to direct The Hobbit, Total Film called up our good buddy Guillermo to get the facts direct from him.

“The reality is, I will know that it's happening when we have the final word and I am fully and officially on board,” del Toro tells Total Film.

“I think what happens very often is that these rumours have a way of becoming real or not. I don't expect The Hobbit to be troublesome. But you know, then again, it may never happen... or it may!”

But make no mistake, del Toro does want this. Badly. “I would LOVE it,” says GDT. “I bought all the Tolkein books that were available in Mexico when I was 11 years old, but the one that I read at 11 years old was The Hobbit. So it left an indelible mark in my imagination.”

For the full story on The Hobbit, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and much, much more, make sure you read the full interview with del Toro in the April Issue of Total Film, out 21 February.

In the meantime, stick close to TotalFilm online for more GDT updates. “You know the beauty of The Hobbit, if it were to happen,” adds del Toro, “is that The Hobbit, out of all the books, is the one that resembles more a fairytale.

"I loved this very Hitchcockian idea of a very proper, prissy character with a very limited universe being taken on a journey where danger and pain and loss ultimately enhances his view of the world. And that to me is a very, very powerful story…”
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I am definitely looking forward to this installment of Middle Earth on the big screen. Granted, there were issues with character development in the LOTR trilogy but overall it was done very well. A great effort for a difficult project. OnHell is right on with his assessment of the best film we have out of this novel at this point. I am sure this effort will be exponentially better.
 
"I loved this very Hitchcockian idea of a very proper, prissy character with a very limited universe being taken on a journey where danger and pain and loss ultimately enhances his view of the world. And that to me is a very, very powerful story…”


:notworthy:
 
Excellent news.Personally I liked what Jackson was able to do with LOTR, so I'm glad he'll be involved with The  Hobbit. And in total honesty, as long as Gandalf is played by Ian McKellen and Smaug is the most terrifying dragon to have ever been seen on screen, I'll be happy.
 
Natalie said:
as long as Gandalf is played by Ian McKellen and Smaug is the most terrifying dragon to have ever been seen on screen, I'll be happy.
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:)

I've thought about that as well. Gandalf, Gollum and Bilbo... Jackson connected faces to these characters, so it indeed would be a bit weird to see other actors instead.
 
Well, a combo of acting and CGI. The CGI was just a layer on top of the real actor.
Gollum's face, his movements and most importantly, his voice were all from the same actor. Without his contribution Gollum surely would change.
 
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