ROTTEN TOMATOES: MGM Plans "Terminator 4," "The Hobbit" In New Tentpole Strategy

MGM Plans "Terminator 4," "The Hobbit" In New Tentpole Strategy

by Jen Yamato | September 11, 2006

Exciting news for fans of event pics: MGM, in an effort to bumrush the tentpole biz, is planning "Terminator 4," a "Thomas Crown Affair" sequel, and "The Hobbit" -- with the hope that "Lord of the Rings" visionary Peter Jackson will direct.

According to Variety, MGM's plan is for several projects in the next few years, "some in the $150 million to $200 million-plus range." In addition to "T4," "Thomas Crown," and "The Hobbit," these include already-announced MGM projects like the "Pink Panther" sequel, 2008's "Bond 22," and the February release "Rocky Balboa."

MGM's making a "Terminator" sequel! Oh, and another "Pink Panther"...

And who can we thank for this revival of once-powerhouse MGM, which had morphed in recent decades into a distribution house of modestly budgeted pics? Credit new MGM chairman-CEO Harry Sloan, who’s bent on more than doubling the value of the studio, which was sold two years ago to Sony and Co. for $4.8 billion.

Some snippets from Variety:

"The goal is to release two or three tentpoles a year, all of which will be made with financial partners, including Wall Street money or other studios."

"The financial and distribution rights to the Bond movies will be split with Sony. (For the upcoming "Casino Royale," Sony has theatrical rights, MGM has TV rights.)"

"The Hobbit" will be produced in partnership with New Line, which Sloan says shares the rights to the property with MGM."

Will PJ come back for "The Hobbit?"

Co-producing "Hobbit" with New Line (which released "The Lord of the Rings" films) could make nabbing Jackson to direct the Tolkien prequel a bit easier. (Or might there be a hitch?) What's more, the Variety piece calls "Hobbit" a "one or two installment" project, which means "LOTR" fans could have multiple flicks to start salivating over.

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(1-20 of 25 posts) | Reply

elziard writes:
on Sep 11 2006 10:47 AM

T4 and the Hobbit were inevitable.
T4 without arnold? why not?
it's like hanging onto the Alien franchise MUST having Sigorney Weaver to continue.
we want the aliens and the terminators, we don't need arnold. give him a nod with some factory skins/animatranic models/CG, but not a 60+ actor who's long in the tooth.

(Reply to this)

aconline writes:
on Sep 11 2006 10:54 AM

Well, Rocky Balboa is listed as a Christmas release on this site and the poster. But Feb? Which one is it? www.the-numbers.com lists it as a December release, too. But now this article and Yahoo!Movies is listing it as Feb.

(Reply to this)

dracus writes:
on Sep 11 2006 11:02 AM

[b]Hobbits of the World Rejoice![/b]
Considering Jackson said last year that he has personally paid the storage costs for many of the key sets from the Lord of the Rings movies, I'd be very surprised if he didn't direct it. However, I doubt very much though that The Hobbit will be done in two parts, especially if Jackson directs; he has too much respect for the books to do that. Unlike the The Lord of The Rings books, The Hobbit (excuse the pun here) is a short book. Besides it was mentioned on New Zealand television last week that The Hobbit is expected to be released in December 2008. As for MGM teaming up with New Line, this may be a way out for Jackson to direct The Hobbit without affecting his legal action against New Line. If these rumours are true, I pity any studio that competes against The Hobbit for best picture in 2008, because I think that this is definitely the best of the Tolkien books.

(Reply to this)

nogard64 writes:
on Sep 11 2006 11:22 AM

In reply to this comment (#844024)
[b]haha yeah![/b]
its a no brainer to make the hobbit considering how much LOTRs made for New Line!

And yeah the studios are probably gonna milk this cash cow and squeeze every drop out they could and a 2 parter may just be whats in store.

Hobbit may even be more popular because it is more accessible to younger kids and the rest of the world. the story has more focus and not so many parallel story lines. Just Bilbo going on a little adventure with his dwarf friends.

(Reply to this)

lavatory love machine writes:
on Sep 11 2006 03:27 PM

well, this is the news I've been waiting since the release of return of the king

the hobbit should be brilliant, like someone wrote. it has more focus and it just a straight foward story line, like fellowship with an ending

(Reply to this)

Bystander09 writes:
on Sep 11 2006 03:54 PM

I LOVE THE HOBBIT! Peter Jackson better direct though or it could be ugly

(Reply to this)

Ciaranmv writes:
on Sep 11 2006 03:56 PM

[b]Return of the King[/b]
It would be box office suicide to not get Peter Jackson and his crew back from the LOTR trilogy to do "The Hobbit." Not even Lucas would be capable of pulling that off in the way they were able to the three LOTR movies.

Bring back Ian Holm, McKellan, Hugo Weaving and why not throw in Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett just for the fun of it.

Screw the "Pink Panther." It died a long time ago with Peter Sellers.

(Reply to this)

dracus writes:
on Sep 11 2006 05:23 PM

In reply to this comment (#844028)
Peter Jackson said in one of the LOTR's commentaries (can't remember which movie it was) that he was going to have Elijah Wood play young Bilbo when he finds the ring in the cave with Gollum in the prologue that opens The Fellowship of the Ring, but decided against it for fear that having Elijah Wood play a young Bilbo and then seeing him right away as Frodo would confuse the viewer. As soon as I heard him say that in the commentary, my immediate thought was that he plans on having Elijah Wood play Bilbo in The Hobbit since Bilbo is 50 years younger than he is when Fellowship starts. Unless he plans on using a lot of makeup on Wood, I don't think people will accept him as Bilbo now.

(Reply to this)

synergyred writes:
on Sep 11 2006 06:16 PM

Holy crap. The Hobbit would be GREAT. Please bring back PJ!

The other ones, I could care less about.

(Reply to this)

edgarandstephen writes:
on Sep 11 2006 11:04 PM

yeah thats a big question...who will play Bilbo? cuz in the fellowship flashback Bilbo (dont know the name of the actor) played Bilbo finding the ring (even though he looked roughly the same age) ....so, if Jackson directed would that possibly mean the actor who played Bilbo in the fellowship would be back?? problem of corse being he lacks the Elijah Wood quteness

(Reply to this)

Darkness My Old Friend writes:
on Sep 12 2006 01:27 AM

How I wish Ian Holm was 20 years younger.

However, as it is, the obvious choice for Bilbo Baggins should be Colin Firth. I can't imagine a more perfect fit.

(Reply to this)

CyberJackal writes:
on Sep 12 2006 05:43 AM

Very happy to hear this news. I love The Hobbit, and I've been hoping Jackson would get a chance to make this as well. The only people they need back are McKellan, Weaving, and Serkis. Unfortunately, Ian Holm is too old to take this role.

(Reply to this)

Mikeal420 writes:
on Sep 12 2006 07:32 AM

[b]Wrong Direction for LOTR[/b]
I see the need to make "The Hobbit", it's a fun book ,but also definitly the weakest entry in the series (I always thought it was too childish). It would be more interesting to see them make "THE SILMARILLION", but they would have to find a brilliant writer, the book is essentially a Biblical like history of Middle-Earth.

Also I think Peter Jackson has done enough of a great job with the LOTR series, and that he should move on to different things. He is one of the greatest director of fantasy around, I would like to see more diversity in what he directs. They should pass the reigns over too someone like Guierrmo Del Toro, or Jean-Pierre Jeunet

(Reply to this)

Crenshaw writes:
on Sep 12 2006 07:36 AM

[b]2 Hobbit Movies...! Wheee!!![/b]
What great timing. I just got done reading The Hobbit to my 7 and 5 year-old boys, and they LOVED it. And the book is fresh in my head, so forgive me while I delve into geekish detail. This would be so sweet. My boys will be 10-11 and 8-9 before the film is released, which will make them old enough for the visual scariness that will be the Trolls, Spiders, and Battle of 5 Armies.

As I was reading it I was "filming it in my head" (c'mon, you do it too) and was wondering what they would have to cut to fit it all in. At first I thought they could cut the troupe stuck in the flaming trees and rescued by the Eagles. But that wouldn't work because that introduces both the Wargs and the Eagles which both factor into the Battle of 5 Armies. Beorn? Nope, that would be stupid, and a very funny part of the book. Riddles in the Dark could take a big chunk of time, and the Battle needs screen space too. Etc. Even at 3 hours there is not much time. The book is just PACKED.

But... TWO movies! Well, that would just be too awesome. I'd say the break between movies would be just as Bilbo rescues the dwarves from the Elvenking's Halls. That allows lots of adventure getting over the Misty Mountains and through Mirkwood, and the final shot could be Bilbo seeing the Lonely Mountain in the distance. Still a good "cliffhanger" moment, since the dwarves are still stuck in barrels and Bilbo is invisible on the Elves' raft, but the sun is shining on them agani and they are "out of immediate danger." Then the whole 2nd film could spend the time needed to get into the mountain and establish the politics that lead up to the Battle of 5 Armies. And they should spend time actually making Bard something more than Deus Ex Machina. And then the Battle can be even more awesome than LOTR.

Get Jackson, Walsh and Boyens to script it, Jackson to direct, and it'll be just a wonderful, awesome thing.

(Reply to this)

Mikeal420 writes:
on Sep 12 2006 07:37 AM

In reply to this comment (#844032)
Completly agree Colin Firth does have the perfect look and personality of Bilbo Baggins

(Reply to this)

Crenshaw writes:
on Sep 12 2006 07:44 AM

In reply to this comment (#844036)
You know, they COULD use Holm. Make him look a bit younger with makeup. Remember, Galdalf tells him "You haven't aged a day..."

Yes, he'd still be a bit "older" than is proper, but he should have a certain paternal look to him that would translate well with an older actor.

That will make the step into the LOTR troligy even cooler.

Let's see, who else could "return"...?

Galdalf (of course)
Elrond (of course)
Show a Legolas cameo in the Elvenking Halls - that's his home.
Show Gimli in the Battle of 5 Armies? He may not be old enough....
Anyone else?

(Reply to this)

unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Sep 12 2006 10:24 AM

The Hobbit would be awesome but they have to bring back Jackson. And I'm always ready for more Bond.

(Reply to this)

killermonkey8822 writes:
on Sep 12 2006 05:39 PM

if they don't bring back peter jackson than the hobbit might not work, but i'm looking forward too the other movies and i want too see the pink panther series since it has better script writers now and maybe this time it will be more original and everything

(Reply to this)

Horstradamus writes:
on Sep 13 2006 07:38 PM

The Silmarillion was shite. A perfect example of an author trying to extend his career when he's run out of fresh ideas.

(Reply to this)

Crenshaw writes:
on Sep 14 2006 07:05 AM

[b]Out of ideas? He couldn't stop them....[/b]
Actually, Tolkien didn't really care that much of his "career" as an author. His real job as a linguistics professor at Oxford was his career. Truth be told, he was kind of a nut. All of Middle-earth was created as a backstory for the reason his made-up languages evolved. And he wrote tomes and tomes just because it was all in his head and had to come out. When fans demanded more more more he gathered his short "origin" stories and released them. And in fact, he wrote most of the Silmarillion stuff before Lord of the Rings. After he died his copious notes were used by his son and publisher to create a Middle-earth publishing lexicon, for good or bad.

(Reply to this)

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