ROTTEN TOMATOES: Jackson Directing The Hobbit After All?

Jackson Directing The Hobbit After All?

Thaw imminent between director and New Line?

by Jeff Giles | August 13, 2007

Just a little over six months ago, New Line's Bob Shaye publicly stated that the Lord of the Rings trilogy's director, Peter Jackson, was not only out of the running for the LotR prequel The Hobbit, but would "never make any movie with New Line Cinema again" as long as Shaye was with the studio. Few bridges are permanently burned in Hollywood, however -- particularly where billion-dollar franchises are at stake -- and IGN Movies reports that white flags might be on the horizon for Jackson and Shaye.

According to the article, conciliatory quotes are coming from all sides. Yep, even Shaye is getting in on the fence-mending:

The Los Angeles Times spoke with Shaye, who admitted that New Line insiders have been in talks with Jackson's reps to try and make amends. "Yes, that's a fair statement," said Shaye when quizzed about it. "Notwithstanding our personal quarrels, I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit."

The article goes on to include hopeful quotes from Ian McKellen and a spokesperson for Jackson, all of which would seem to indicate that if the right deal can be struck (and relevant lawsuits can be settled), Ring fans just might get the movie they've hoped for after all.

Source: IGN Movies

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Movie:	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
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	Robert Shaye

(1-20 of 82 posts) | Reply

arendr writes:
on Aug 13 2007 08:18 AM

When I first heard they were making a Lord of the Rings series, I was skeptical. The only way I won't be skeptical of a Hobbit movie is if Jackson helms it.

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cabezone writes:
on Aug 13 2007 08:41 AM

The only way I won't be skeptical is if they get someone else to direct it. Jackson is too plodding and heavy handed for the Hobbit. I want the Hobbit to have a much lighter adventuresome pacing and feel.

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HeisLegend1231 writes:
on Aug 13 2007 08:42 AM

If they get Peter Jackson back for this it will be a box office success for sure. Not to mention a success with the fans of the book and the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

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lavatory love machine writes:
on Aug 13 2007 08:47 AM

the thing een if they get peter back the movie won't be release until 2009 at least

that sucks

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Huntressmoon13 writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:00 AM

This sounds good to me. And Cabezone- what do you mean plodding and heavy handed? I thought the first half of FOTR was a great balance of lightheartedness and thrilling action. When the story calls for it, I think Jackson and his gang will do fine.

I think the real trick in all of this is going to be the casting- most idiots with no sense of the stories will think that the entire LOTR cast will be back, when only McKellan makes sense. Sorry Ian Holm, makeup worked five years ago for a youthful Bilbo, but someone's gong to have to be younger. Any ideas, folks?

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Lord of the Rings writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:06 AM

When I heard the news; I jumped like mad, I was excited to hear that Bob Shaye would give Peter another chance. Also, I think, he (Shaye) was being pushed by MGM to get the director who started it all.

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JUDGE DREDD writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:13 AM

Firstly, Please god let this happen! 100% Jackson for the Hobbit!!!!

Secondly, as far as casting goes.... COLIN FIRTH, looks like a younger IAN HOLM.

COLIN FIRTH for BILBO BAGGINS!!!

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JUDGE DREDD writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:14 AM

Firstly, Please god let this happen! 100% Jackson for the Hobbit!!!!

Secondly, as far as casting goes.... COLIN FIRTH, looks like a younger IAN HOLM.

COLIN FIRTH for BILBO BAGGINS!!!

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Rash Hunt writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:40 AM

Isn't Bilbo supposed to be fifty anyhow?

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Sputnik99 writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:48 AM

Well, don't get too hopeful. Shaye may be trying to make amends, but that's only 50%. I think Jackson is too stubborn to call truce lightly.

I feel he is the best choice for director, but he's gotten a bit too high on his horse. I can't imagine him making any kind of settlement where he doesn't get everything. Does he deserve everything? I don't know. But it's been long enough, he's made enough money as it is...

Let it go, Peter. Think of your fans, and how many you're hurting because you think you are standing for something, when you could move on, and become and even greater legend.

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BuckyUnderbelly writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:50 AM

Sweet Bearded Zeus! Please let this be true!

And word is, this would be a TWO movie deal. Either a two-part HOBBIT or THE HOBBIT and a bridging movie that brings us up to the beginning of LOTR. (I'm not entirely sure what the bridging movie would consist of, but if PJ and the gang are doing it, I'm IN.)

Bilbo will be very tough to cast. I'm almost hoping for an unknown. Somebody with no baggage or expectations.

But here are some other casting suggestions I'd love to see:

Thorin -- Bob Hoskins, Brendan Gleeson or Ben Kingsley
Thranduil (Legolas' dad, King of the Mirkwood elves) -- Sam Neill

Of course, this would be in addition to bringing back any applicable actors from the LOTR trilogy as appropriate. Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, and Hugo Weaving should all return since their characters see significant time in the book. But it's not out of the realm of possibility for us to see Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler (elves are immortal after all), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn would only be in his 30's during the time of The Hobbit), Christopher Lee, John Noble (Denathor) or Bernard Hill(Theoden). (And I'd be willing to bet they'd all do it for peanuts just to get the chance to jump back into Middle Earth and work with PJ again.)

Although, I fervently hope that this thing doesn't turn into a cameo parade. These characters should ONLY be brought back if there are compelling story reasons to do so.

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Warheart1188 writes:
on Aug 13 2007 09:58 AM

In reply to this comment (#1035290)
Colin Firth for Bilbo?? Nah, they would not look right at all. He's not the hobbit type. I think they would probably cast an unknown to be Bilbo.

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I Am Remote writes:
on Aug 13 2007 10:06 AM

I agree with cabezone. Get someone new in there. Return of the king was uneven at best and King Kong is the cinematic equivalent of Jackson stroking himself.

Someone new. And not Raimi.

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HurinThalion writes:
on Aug 13 2007 10:09 AM

Why would they recast bilbo? Bilbo is in his 50's during The Hobbit.

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BuckyUnderbelly writes:
on Aug 13 2007 10:26 AM

As for the notion that Peter Jackson is being stubborn or greedy ... let's all take a minute to remember what this lawsuit is really about. It's not a sneaky way for Jackson to squeeze extra money out of New Line. Jackson just wants New Line and its co-chair Bob Shaye to live up to the contract they signed. He wants New Line to come clean and open its books to an independent auditor so they can actually see how much profit participation Jackson and his team are actually owed. Both sides signed that contract and he just wants them to live up to their end of the deal. Nothing wrong with that.

To say Jackson & Co. have made "enough" money and should stop complaining and just let things be ... (as Shaye has actually said publically) ... is kind of like saying that if YOUR boss doesn't feel like giving you your whole paycheck, that you should just shut up and take whatever he gives you ... because you've made enough money. It's exactly the same principle. (Just with a LOT more zeroes!) And just because it seems like a lot of money to us ... let's not forget that PJ isn't exactly stuffing this cash under his mattress, he's got several huge companies to run and lots of people under his employ.

Hey, New Line signed the contract, they should be honest and live up to their end of the bargain. Open the books, let the auditors figure out who's owed what. And THEN we can get on with making a great HOBBIT movie!

And, when all is said and done, they may not owe Jackson a dime. And Jackson has said he'd be totally fine with that. But he still wants a fair and impartial auditor to check out the figures to make sure nobody's cooking the books. Truth be told, filmmakers sue studios ALL THE TIME over this sort of thing and we never hear about it. It's actually quite common. What's weird about this particular case is how personally Shaye has taken things and how publically angry he's gotten. It's almost as though he's got something to hide ...

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witherwings writes:
on Aug 13 2007 10:35 AM

Frodo was 33 at the beginning of LOTR. Hobbits age more slowly because they live longer. Colin Firth would look the age, but I can't see him in the part of Bilbo.

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Callpacas writes:
on Aug 13 2007 10:38 AM

LOTR fanatics - twice worst than star stars, slightly better than Trek.
I don't give a crap who directs the hobbit..Hobbirs are as unappealing as jar jar is obnoxious. Can;t you people ever stop worshiping Jackson?

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Infidel writes:
on Aug 13 2007 10:38 AM

After King Kong, I think the Hobbit would be better off with a new director. If they do bring back Jackson, they really need to keep a tighter rein on his ego.

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Dachshund96 writes:
on Aug 13 2007 10:40 AM

I loved the the lord of the ring movies until I read the book. I heard somebody say once that these movies were the closest translation of any book. Boy were they wrong. I now could care less who does the Hobbit for if Jackson does it again it will be nothing close to the book and trash in my opinion.

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lozeerose writes:
on Aug 13 2007 11:01 AM

In reply to this comment (#1036117)
Dachshund96: I think I would disagree with your opinion of the movies after reading the books. Let me explain: a writer can effectively create a personal experience for the reader of any book, especially an excellent writer such as Tolkien. The best thing he did, in my opinion of course, was setting a tone of history rather than invested narrative. You could believe that this world may have existed here many thousands of years back. Tolkien does this because he is basically providing a cultural/historical narrative that explains how the Elven (and other) languages came about. This is very evident if you move beyond the LOTR and get into the Silmarilion and so on.

However, what Jackson had to do here was create a realm that would fit into the linear format of film without creating different movies for different points in the books (I am thinking along the lines of recent Eastwood's WWII movies). And with all the planning and merging we still got 3 1/2-hour long movies times 3. I think Jackson did his best to capture the element of the Rings without losing the audience. Most of the time book adaptations clearly miss the book's mark as did previous incarnations of the LOTR.

I think he could do a masterful job with the Hobbit either as a director or producer. In order for the visual feel (make-up, landscape, etc) to be familiar and consistent with the LOTR series Jackson must be involved in some significant manner.

Just for the sake of saying it, I did not like The Lion, the Witch and all that and thought that King Kong was just OK because Jackson tried to use too much of the LOTR in the film...

Just my 2 cents. Thanks.

(Reply to this)

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