Now that we have firmly seated the characters in our minds after watching FOTR, I am ready to see the first adventures of Bilbo and Gandalf and Gollum done on the same grand scale. If y’all tell me this is already in the works, I will be very embarrassed indeed, but my heart will be gladdened!
Why am I suddenly lapsing into Middle Earth-Speak?
Quasi
Could you imagine keeping track of 12 dwarves? Other than Thorin and fat Bombur, they’re pretty interchangeable.
Or singing merry elves after seeing Legolas? Or frightful confused dwarves after Gimli?
On the other hand, we’ll have the Orc fights, the riddling contest with Gollum, the river barrel ride, Bilbo’s meeting Smaug and the penultimate excuse for CGI, the Battle of Five Armies.
…although I’ll always have a soft spot for the animated film. And those songs!
If the LOTR teams makes Smaug look as convincing as the dragon in Dragonslayer, I’m definitely there.
I wish they’d used the voice of Gollum from the animated Hobbit for the movies. That voice really made the character; it was guttural, sinister, yet at the same time pitiful, just like Gollum should be. When I hear the voice of the big-screen Gollum, all I can think is, “I can do that same voice, and it ain’t that hard.” The current Gollum sounds a bit too much like Gurgi from The Black Cauldron.
Just curious: What would be the ultimate excuse?
That’s easy:
Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities.
Didn’t I read something in an interview somewhere that Peter Jackson said something to the effect that if the trilogy even comes remotely close to a success he’ll do a Hobbit? Um, movie that is. 
Ah, Mirkwood. I’d love to see how they handle that…and Smaug, of course…
D’you think Ian McKellan would come back as Gandalf?
I’d like to see Beorn and his longhouse. That chapter feels like it’s right out of Beowulf.
Well, I know my kids want a remake of The Hobbit. I tried showing them the old Rankin-Bass film to warm them up to it and they were bored to tears. “Daddy, the animation’s oooollllld!” They loved Fellowship of the Ring, though, maybe even more than I did.
Of course, comparing the animated Hobbit to Jackson’s FotR… they kind of have a point!
From what I’ve heard, Tolkien and his estate only ever released the rights to do an animated version of The Hobbit, and the Rankin-Bass was it. Considering how conservative the estate has been about the rights since the good Professor’s death, we’re not likely to see a new Hobbit movie.
Why not? We’re already seeing three Lord of the Rings movies, what would be so unlikely about the same guy getting the rights to do the same thing with The Hobbit?
The movie rights to Lord of the Rings were released a very long time ago, as were the animated rights to The Hobbit, and Tolkien and his family greatly regretted that decision afterwards. I’m sure that PJ would be willing to buy the rights, but they’re currently not for sale, and probably won’t be for the forseeable future.
Just as long as nobody sings “The great-test ad-ven-ture”. I’d be happy.
Any update on the question raised in the OP? I find it hard to believe the Tolkien estate wouldn’t be willing to part with the film rights for the Hobbit given the massive success and general critical acclaim for Peter Jackson’s job with LOTR.
I don’t think the estate has the Hobbit film rights. IIRC United Artists has the rights for US distribution and somebody else for international distribution.
Chris Tolkien considers himself the guardian of the literary works, and that films are beneath his dignity (IMHO). The fact that films fuel book sales will not sway him in keeping the sacred texts pristine (again, this is my interpretations of events)
Brian
That’s because you don’t understand Christopher Tolkien. He has no interest in “success and general critical acclaim” or in money. His only concern is keeping his father’s stories “pure” (or something like that).
I think it’s a film rights issue. This was discussed recently in an interview with Peter Jackson posted on the One Ring.net site
(PS - Thank goodness the Tolkien estate does protect the books from would be sequel writers & suchlike)
Someone made up a bogus film trailer for The Hobbit, using scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring and Dragonslayer. It looks really good, but I don’t have the website on me.
When’s old Chris going to join the 20th century, let alone the 21st? I think old JRR himself would have approved of the way new technologies made his works enjoyable by untold millions of people…
Tolkien didn’t approve of the way new technologies did anything.