Geeks unite! The Hobbit has a green light
'Bout damn time. New Line and Peter Jackson have ended their squabble, and The Hobbit will be made:
After years of bickering, angry letters, brash statements and ego-checking, New Line and Peter Jackson have resolved their differences and agreed to make The Hobbit (and a sequel).
But before you start searching for your opening-night Gollum outfit ... Jackson will executive-produce, not direct or write (which he did with his partner, Fran Walsh). And there's no director or script yet, though Jackson & Walsh will retain director and script approval. Production will begin immediately for a 2010 release in a joint effort with New Line and MGM, but with the writer's strike there won't be a script for quite some time.
In a statement released by Jackson today: "I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”
The two sides originally squabbled over money: New Line gambled $120 million to give Jackson a shot and fund his trilogy after everyone else passed; once the dollars came in Jackson felt he should get to share the wealth. According to Entertainment Weekly, he even offered to take the costumes and props as a fee for working on the extended-edition DVDs (which he wasn't contracted to do) or else he might not participate at all.
New Line grudgingly gave him his props (no pun intended), but the relationship had frayed to the point that Jackson sued the studio in 2005, and the possibility of a Hobbit movie went down the chasm with Gandalf the Gray. Jackson refused to do the prequel until the lawsuit was settled, so New Line officially "fired" him from the movie instead. ''I don't care about Peter Jackson anymore,'' New Line's co-chair Bob Shaye said in January. ''He thinks that we owe him something after we've paid him over a quarter of a billion dollars!''
But by August, Shaye--who'd started talking to directors like Sam Raimi about helming The Hobbit--was telling the LA Times: "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.''
Anyone who watched these magnificent movies, whether at home (which I'm sure you kicked yourselves for doing) or in the theater (like the rest of us geeks that had waited a lifetime to see) you know that Peter Jackson did JRR Tolkien's books justice in ways that we couldn't possibly fathom. The costumes, the acting, the story (despite some notable omissions, such as Tom Bombadil), all of it transported us to the land of Middle Earth.
When we first heard word that the Hobbit was being looked at by Jackson to be made, but then saw the bickering going on between him, New Line, and MGM over it, we thought that it would never be made. It was all over money, and the soap opera just kept getting drawn out like a bad season of One Life to Live. But with this news, we can rest easy, shine up our swords, grab our cloaks, and prepare to journey back to the land of Middle Earth. A reminder for those who may not have ever read the books, The Hobbit is Bilbo Baggins' story of how he found The One Ring in the first place. No word yet if Ian McKellan will reprise his role as Gandalf, or if Ian Holm will reprise Bilbo. This is something we will definitely be paying attention to.
Publius II
After years of bickering, angry letters, brash statements and ego-checking, New Line and Peter Jackson have resolved their differences and agreed to make The Hobbit (and a sequel).
But before you start searching for your opening-night Gollum outfit ... Jackson will executive-produce, not direct or write (which he did with his partner, Fran Walsh). And there's no director or script yet, though Jackson & Walsh will retain director and script approval. Production will begin immediately for a 2010 release in a joint effort with New Line and MGM, but with the writer's strike there won't be a script for quite some time.
In a statement released by Jackson today: "I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”
The two sides originally squabbled over money: New Line gambled $120 million to give Jackson a shot and fund his trilogy after everyone else passed; once the dollars came in Jackson felt he should get to share the wealth. According to Entertainment Weekly, he even offered to take the costumes and props as a fee for working on the extended-edition DVDs (which he wasn't contracted to do) or else he might not participate at all.
New Line grudgingly gave him his props (no pun intended), but the relationship had frayed to the point that Jackson sued the studio in 2005, and the possibility of a Hobbit movie went down the chasm with Gandalf the Gray. Jackson refused to do the prequel until the lawsuit was settled, so New Line officially "fired" him from the movie instead. ''I don't care about Peter Jackson anymore,'' New Line's co-chair Bob Shaye said in January. ''He thinks that we owe him something after we've paid him over a quarter of a billion dollars!''
But by August, Shaye--who'd started talking to directors like Sam Raimi about helming The Hobbit--was telling the LA Times: "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.''
Anyone who watched these magnificent movies, whether at home (which I'm sure you kicked yourselves for doing) or in the theater (like the rest of us geeks that had waited a lifetime to see) you know that Peter Jackson did JRR Tolkien's books justice in ways that we couldn't possibly fathom. The costumes, the acting, the story (despite some notable omissions, such as Tom Bombadil), all of it transported us to the land of Middle Earth.
When we first heard word that the Hobbit was being looked at by Jackson to be made, but then saw the bickering going on between him, New Line, and MGM over it, we thought that it would never be made. It was all over money, and the soap opera just kept getting drawn out like a bad season of One Life to Live. But with this news, we can rest easy, shine up our swords, grab our cloaks, and prepare to journey back to the land of Middle Earth. A reminder for those who may not have ever read the books, The Hobbit is Bilbo Baggins' story of how he found The One Ring in the first place. No word yet if Ian McKellan will reprise his role as Gandalf, or if Ian Holm will reprise Bilbo. This is something we will definitely be paying attention to.
HT: Instapundit
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home