EEEEE! "The Hobbit" is on! Or so it seems.

[dianeduane]

From Nikki Finke's blog (which seems to be under the surface at the moment, possibly its server having been hammered by so much attention):

"URGENT! Peter Jackson And Bob Shaye Settle; Jackson Will Exec Produce 'Hobbit'

After nearly three years of legal battling and public bad-mouthing and six months of settlement talks, it's all over. Even better, it's back to Middle Earth for all parties. Today's big news is that JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit and its sequel will finally be made back-to-back for New Line and MGM the way they should be -- [...]"

(that's all we have at the moment.) Check the blog for more / better news.)

(EDIT: The NY Times article adds:)

The untitled sequel is described as bridging the 60-year gap between the end of J. R. R. Tolkien’s "Hobbit" and the beginning of the “Rings” trilogy.

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

I've read that Jackson will produce and Guillermo del Toro will direct. Which, if so, would be AWESOME.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I suppose, but, er, um, "its sequel"? I tremble in fear....

[wolfdaughter.livejournal.com]

I'll join you in that. The sequel to The Hobbit has already been made, it's called "Lord of the Rings". >.>

[yrena.livejournal.com]

Does that mean we get another LOTR trilogy?

Maybe this time they'll include Tom Bombadil...! One can only hope.

Ok, so I'm biased because parts like those are what made the story for me and I hated the movies.

[megabitch.livejournal.com]

My first thought was "Oh, shit, Jackson gets to fuck up another of my favourite books."

[crustycurmudgeo.livejournal.com]

I think they are dividing The Hobbit into two parts, since the story is a bit long for a single. I'm guessing the first part will cover up to the Mirkwood elves capturing the dwarves.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am so completely excited by this! Thanks for the news. :)

[sakai-yukari.livejournal.com]

Another good source of information for this is at onering.net. The article is here:
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2007/12/18/28150-peter-jackson-and-new-line-cinema-join-with-mgm-to-produce-%e2%80%9cthe-hobbit%e2%80%9d/

[llennhoff.livejournal.com]

I assume they are splitting the action of The Hobbit into two movies? Where would a good breakpoint be? Perhaps when the orcs attack?
15 birds in 5 fir trees....

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

The word has hit Yahoo, too:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071218/ap_en_mo/film_the_hobbit;_ylt=AtbXh0jZ6w5SzGDh501.Ha2s0NUE

Gotta admit to mixed feelings; del Toro is FTW, but I was one of the folks disgruntled by the LOTR adaptation from these folks. *cough*Faramir*cough*Helm'sDeep*cough*.

Looks to be a "go," though.

[botrytis.livejournal.com]

Yay!

Uh Oh. The Hobbit has a sequel? Since when?

[wyrddragon.livejournal.com]

I also must have been on the stupid drugs... Sequel???

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

I have seven kinds of glee for this! Although the word "sequel" makes me mildly nervous. Um, wasn't Lord of the Rings the sequel to The Hobbit?

Are they splitting the book into two parts? (It's really not that long - it'd be padded as hell) - or is the rumour that I'm hearing that they're planning on constructing one based on TOlkien's notes have some merit?

If the latter is true, I'll be cautious about it. Hollywood has a hard enough time adapting something already in print. Making up something from someone else's notes? That gets dicey.

UHohhh.

[(Anonymous)]

I just looked at the onering.net and it says that now the Tolkien Estate is suing New Line! This can only mean another looonnnggg lawsuit. Its a shame, b/c I really thought with the writer's strike over some headway would be made on the project. :(

[insanitys-place.livejournal.com]

According to Council of Elrond.net's news blip (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4496833a1870.html), Del Toro has agreed to direct The Hobbit!

[insanitys-place.livejournal.com]

ETA: because I fail at proper phrasing, the link refers to the article the blip links to.