In a moment of temporary insanity, I was watching MTV2 yesterday and saw a brief interview with Peter Jackson about King Kong. In this report, it was mentioned that Jackson wanted to do The Hobbit and would if he could get the rights to it. This is the most emphatic statement I’ve heard from him about doing The Hobbit, because in all previous comments he’s only been vaguely interested.
Here’s a cite for you cite freaks:
My questions are, what’s up with the rights? And, who would you cast in The Hobbit if it were up to you? I thought the casting in the LotR trilogy was inspired, so I’m sure the casting for The Hobbit will be great too, but I’d love to hear people’s casting ideas and see how close they are to what actually is decided. Apparently Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, and Liv Tyler have already said they’d be in it, so that’s set.
From what I understand, there’s a bit of a problem with the rights.
Jackson has said that he’d like to do The Hobbit, certainly, after a bit of a rest and a break, sure…
…but the film rights currently reside with New Line, the same company that did LOTR…
…while the DISTRIBUTION rights lie with a different company.
This begs the question of why New Line should finance a film they won’t get to distribute… or why this other company should share the pie with New Line.
Anything’s possible, certainly, but I’m not holding my breath.
I don’t think The Hobbit would work under PJ. The merry elves in the book were not like Legolas, nor the bumbling dwarves like Gimli. Imagine trying to keep track of 13 dwarves (except maybe Bombur and Thorin). Smaug would be something to behold, though!
I don’t know about that… if there’s one word that comes to mind when I think of Peter Jackson, it’s “versatility.” Keep in mind that this is the guy who used to be known primarily for making excessively bloody horror flicks.
Actually, from what I recall, all the dwarves except Thorin Oakenshield WERE bumbling idiots in “The Hobbit.” I mean, isn’t this the bunch that was too terrified to follow Bilbo into Lonely Mountain once they actually got there, thus leaving the poor little guy to face off against a dragon… alone?
I for one have no doubt that Jackson could do it, I just wish he wouldn’t. The same goes for McKellen, Weaving, and Serkis.
Their cinematic interpretation of Middle-earth was magnificent, but I don’t think it’s the only one possible. I’d like to see what other gifted people could do with Tolkien’s world. If they fail, we still have three great films. If they succeed, we’ll have something brand-new to be excited about that will stand beside Tolkien’s and Jackson’s version, instead of trodding well-worn trails through territory we’ve seen before.
If it must be done, let it be done without shoehorning movie stars into a story in which they don’t belong.
The feel of the Hobbit is completely different than that of LotR. I don’t know that Jackson’s vision (unique, but not difinitive) of LotR makes him any more qualified than anyone else to do The Hobbit. In fact, if he painted The Hobbit with the same brush he did LotR, I don’t think I’d like it much at all.
Ian Mckellan said that if The Hobbit was made by Peter Jackson then he would love to play Gandalf, and be peeved if he didnt (my words not his, they are similiar though). I dont have a site unfortunately as I saw it on Film 2003 with Johnathan Ross- the Rotk premiere special( UK TV Prog).
Yeah the Dwarves in The Hobbit were a bunch of schoolboys, but the feeling I get from the story is that, at the time, there’s really not a lot of mighty & heroic things for a dwarfly dwarf to do, ergo they’re mostly pansies (although not NEARLY as bad as the dudes Snow White was chillin’ with) except the insufferably arrogant T.O. (Van Damme?). I always took Gimli to have made a career out of offing tunnel nasties and so he was a good choice to send to the council of Elrond: No way in HELL would this raging ball of dwarftosterone let those fairies, er, elves secure command of the ring–Bombur would have traded the thing for a chicken leg.
You could have Aragorn hanging out at Rivendell, but I think he’d have to be a kid.
I think Gollum is almost a cameo. He’s only in the story for a short time, isn’t he? Serkis could have a “Featuring” credit or something.
I’m sure Jackson realizes that the Hobbit has a different tone than LOTR and I have faith he could get it right. I think a related problem would be more difficult: dealing with the ring once Bilbo finds it. In LOTR, the ring is almost a character in and of itself, while in the Hobbit, it’s more of a tool than anything else. I suppose this is a problem with the books too. But it’s easier to accept going from the Hobbit to LOTR, than the the other way around.
