The film adaptation of Tolkien's The Hobbit which is to be directed by Guillermo Del Toro and produced by Peter Jackson. Due to start filming in 2010 and released in 2011.
Along with this, there will be another film shot simultaneously, which will be released in 2012. The film is about the years between the end of the Hobbit and the beginning of the Fellowship.
sheer terror. Penny Arcade commented on this and I feel likewise. Jackson is pretty solid (in my opinion, but i liked King Kong more than some) but i feel somewhat apprehensive about Del Toro (although perhaps i didn't give Hellboy a fair shake)... and adding to Tolkein is hard to do. i've even heard mixed reviews of Christopher Tolkein's attempt at that.
since they're being filmed together, i predict that they will either both be awesome or both suck. if they weren't filming a non-canonical film, i would have given it an 80-90% chance of being awesome, but now that i know about the other one, i'm thinking it's 50:50.
I'm hopeful that they will both be awesome, but I'm more worried about the second film, it will either be amazing or absolutely terrible. There is so much they can do with that time period that I would love to see in film, but if they don't get all the little things there are in that period put together correctly, it will fail. Those things being the kidnapping of Gollum and his trip to Mordor, a lot of kick ass stuff with Mirkwood, and the "re-awakening" of Sauron (slightly off considering time but I hope they do it), how Frodo ended up with Bilbo, etc.
Well, considering where the Hobbit ends they would most likely start with Gollum and his journey to Mordor along with the rebirth of Sauron, then transition to Bilbo returning to Hobbiton and all the other Hobbits going insane about his adventures. The move back to Mordor and the rebuilding of Baradur and such, which would lead to the Mirkwood...stuff.
yeah, and it's not your job to make it awesome, it's theirs. i'll just be impressed if they make a film from of all that stuff and if is doesn't end up complicated, disjointed, and confusing (either confusing if they go subtle with it or belabored if they're overly expicit and expository). and how would one end that on a strong note that ties all the plotlines together (or properly obscures the ones the audience shouldn't pay attention to until LOTR)? i have a feeling that they're going to have to come up with a completely crazy new idea that seems nothing like Tolkein in order to tie all those threads together and serve that function... but if Peter Jackson is on board, it might just be good >.>
Del Toro can direct, Hellboy isn't a shining example of his talents because he was so hamstrung by the studio and his budget. Just go check the trailer for Hellboy 2 to see what he's capable of when he's let off the leash. The success of Pan's Labyrinth has let him really come into his own and with Jackson and WETA behind him i reckon you'll see some truly amazing monsters for this one.
I'm hopeful for both movies. I think it'll be nice to have a high budget live-action Hobbit, and as for the second movie, if they do it right they have a huge chance to give diehard Tolkien fans something they've never had before: a movie they don't already know the plot for. I think it has potential.
Posted By: melkorDel Toro just addressed anissueI was about to mention
I'd be a little annoyed if it completely veered away from the style Peter Jackson established in the LOTR trilogy. It would be jarring to sit down and watch a film where you have expectations of the universe and have them be completely misplaced. Hopefully they'll find a nice compromise allowing Del Toro to put his usual touch into the creation of the creatures while maintaining the feel of Jackson's established universe.
Del Toro will have plenty of chances to put "his touch" on creatures, those creatures being the spiders in Mirkwood and such, just another thing to be excited about!