Post by Bessain on Jun 1, 2007 21:26:13 GMT -8
Production Status
Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, was interested in pursuing to make The Hobbit into a motion picture in 2004 when talks surfaced of New Line Cinema and MGM collaborating together on the project. In 2005, while filming King Kong, a remake of the 1933 film, Jackson said at the time that the beginning of shooting of The Hobbit was at least three or four years away. Producer Saul Zaentz said in an interview with a German magazine on November 17, 2006 that the movie was definitely going to be made with Jackson at the helm and MGM executive Harry Sloan had given the release date as 2008 or 2009.
New Line originally planned to have Jackson take directorial control once he became available after completing his upcoming book adaption The Lovely Bones and the currently stalled Halo project, where he is acting as executive producer. However, on November 19, 2006 the well-known Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net, which has close ties with the New Zealand filmmaker, posted an e-mail from Peter Jackson in which he stated that New Line will be finding someone else to direct The Hobbit. In the e-mail Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh said New Line is actively looking to hire another film maker for the project. The demise of the partnership was due to an ongoing lawsuit with the studios over accounting practices regarding profits Jackson deemed unjust from the first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.
Tolkien fans responded quickly to the news, and many of them were not happy. These fans decried the decision, and the Sydney Morning Herald questioned if the lucrative film franchise could be successful without Jackson's creative and artistic direction. An online petition was started by fans to convince the producers to bring The Hobbit to the big screen with Peter Jackson's involvement. As of May 2007 the petition contains over 60,000 signatures.
Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in Jackson's trilogy, expressed his disapproval of New Line's actions and claims that somehow Jackson should helm The Hobbit nonetheless. Other veteran Lord of the Rings actors such as Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen had voiced their willingness to return in a Jackson-directed Hobbit, but have shown disappointment about the prospect of one without him, despite remaining silent on their involvement in such a case.
In an interview on his film The Last Mimzy, Robert Shaye remarked that if his studio, New Line, makes it, they will find a top-tier director, as he respects the fans. He said he and New Line would do "the best they can" with it. He also confirmed that he himself would not direct the film. In May 2007, rumors surfaced that New Line had also approached Peter Weir, director of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In the beginning of the end of May 2007, there was a possibility that Peter Jackson might end up directing The Hobbit but upon being asked of this, he said that this chance " may look remote ", for the time being at least, meaning that just because that they seem remote for now doesn't mean that they always will be, which implies that Jackson might make a return for the directorial helm of The Hobbit.
This article was found at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_%282009_film%29
~~
I'm not so sure I wanna see it if Jackson doesn't direct the film, even if there were some times while watching lotr that I wanted to strangle him. Thats like having a bestseller, then asking some other author to write the sequel.
Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, was interested in pursuing to make The Hobbit into a motion picture in 2004 when talks surfaced of New Line Cinema and MGM collaborating together on the project. In 2005, while filming King Kong, a remake of the 1933 film, Jackson said at the time that the beginning of shooting of The Hobbit was at least three or four years away. Producer Saul Zaentz said in an interview with a German magazine on November 17, 2006 that the movie was definitely going to be made with Jackson at the helm and MGM executive Harry Sloan had given the release date as 2008 or 2009.
New Line originally planned to have Jackson take directorial control once he became available after completing his upcoming book adaption The Lovely Bones and the currently stalled Halo project, where he is acting as executive producer. However, on November 19, 2006 the well-known Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net, which has close ties with the New Zealand filmmaker, posted an e-mail from Peter Jackson in which he stated that New Line will be finding someone else to direct The Hobbit. In the e-mail Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh said New Line is actively looking to hire another film maker for the project. The demise of the partnership was due to an ongoing lawsuit with the studios over accounting practices regarding profits Jackson deemed unjust from the first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.
Tolkien fans responded quickly to the news, and many of them were not happy. These fans decried the decision, and the Sydney Morning Herald questioned if the lucrative film franchise could be successful without Jackson's creative and artistic direction. An online petition was started by fans to convince the producers to bring The Hobbit to the big screen with Peter Jackson's involvement. As of May 2007 the petition contains over 60,000 signatures.
Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in Jackson's trilogy, expressed his disapproval of New Line's actions and claims that somehow Jackson should helm The Hobbit nonetheless. Other veteran Lord of the Rings actors such as Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen had voiced their willingness to return in a Jackson-directed Hobbit, but have shown disappointment about the prospect of one without him, despite remaining silent on their involvement in such a case.
In an interview on his film The Last Mimzy, Robert Shaye remarked that if his studio, New Line, makes it, they will find a top-tier director, as he respects the fans. He said he and New Line would do "the best they can" with it. He also confirmed that he himself would not direct the film. In May 2007, rumors surfaced that New Line had also approached Peter Weir, director of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In the beginning of the end of May 2007, there was a possibility that Peter Jackson might end up directing The Hobbit but upon being asked of this, he said that this chance " may look remote ", for the time being at least, meaning that just because that they seem remote for now doesn't mean that they always will be, which implies that Jackson might make a return for the directorial helm of The Hobbit.
This article was found at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_%282009_film%29
~~
I'm not so sure I wanna see it if Jackson doesn't direct the film, even if there were some times while watching lotr that I wanted to strangle him. Thats like having a bestseller, then asking some other author to write the sequel.