there and back again
I love The Hobbit. LOTR, not so much. I just couldn't love them and I've never been sure why. So when the LOTR movies came out, I liked them as movies and was in awe of how well executed they were, but there was always the thought in the back of my mind - why didn't Peter Jackson make The Hobbit, too? So you can imagine how excited I was when I learned several months ago that there would be one after all! But I haven't been paying much attention to the details, so I was happy today to read a chat with Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro (the director, who I've never heard of in my life) about the new movies.
Things I learned:
Guillermo del Toro looks eeriely like Peter Jackson.
Ian McKellan will be back as Gandalf! In fact, per del Toro: Unequivocally, every single actor that originated a role in the Trilogy will be asked to participate and reprise it. If health, availability or willigness become obstacles - and only in that case recasting would be considered. Which is awesome news, but I do have to say that Ian Holm might be a tad old for Bilbo.
First movie is scheduled to release Dec 2011 - sad that it's going to be such a long time. The second movie is set for Dec 2012, which, if the first movie is good, will be torture! And as an aside - Dec 2011 is apparently the tenth anniversary of FOTR. Where has the time gone?!?
Even though del Toro is directing instead of PJ and therefore the films will have his stamp, they're going to try to make the five films flow together.
And since I was feeling rather cranky that PJ wasn't directing The Hobbit films himself, I was interested to read his comments on the subject: Having directed the LOTR Trilogy, I really felt that I put my heart and soul into dramatising this world and story, only a few years ago. The idea of going back in and essentially competing against my own movies, seemed to be an unsatsifying way to spend the next 5 years. However, I love Tolkien and care deeply about the movies we made. I couldn't bear the idea of somebody else making them without our involvement. Being a writer and producer is the perfect way for me to work here. ... Believe me, I thought long and hard about this, and what we're doing here will result in better movies, I promise you. And that's all that counts! Which I guess I can understand. Although will probably remain unconvinced until I see the final product!
Off to re-read The Hobbit now. I believe this will be the 832nd and 1/2 time.
Things I learned:
Guillermo del Toro looks eeriely like Peter Jackson.
Ian McKellan will be back as Gandalf! In fact, per del Toro: Unequivocally, every single actor that originated a role in the Trilogy will be asked to participate and reprise it. If health, availability or willigness become obstacles - and only in that case recasting would be considered. Which is awesome news, but I do have to say that Ian Holm might be a tad old for Bilbo.
First movie is scheduled to release Dec 2011 - sad that it's going to be such a long time. The second movie is set for Dec 2012, which, if the first movie is good, will be torture! And as an aside - Dec 2011 is apparently the tenth anniversary of FOTR. Where has the time gone?!?
Even though del Toro is directing instead of PJ and therefore the films will have his stamp, they're going to try to make the five films flow together.
And since I was feeling rather cranky that PJ wasn't directing The Hobbit films himself, I was interested to read his comments on the subject: Having directed the LOTR Trilogy, I really felt that I put my heart and soul into dramatising this world and story, only a few years ago. The idea of going back in and essentially competing against my own movies, seemed to be an unsatsifying way to spend the next 5 years. However, I love Tolkien and care deeply about the movies we made. I couldn't bear the idea of somebody else making them without our involvement. Being a writer and producer is the perfect way for me to work here. ... Believe me, I thought long and hard about this, and what we're doing here will result in better movies, I promise you. And that's all that counts! Which I guess I can understand. Although will probably remain unconvinced until I see the final product!
Off to re-read The Hobbit now. I believe this will be the 832nd and 1/2 time.