starman9000

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if New Line was completely in the wrong here, but that article is awfully one-sided and doesn't even have a response from New Line.

devilshalo

McKellen hopes for role in `Hobbit'
Fri Mar 28, 12:35 PM ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf the Wizard in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is hoping to reprise the role in another tale from Middle Earth.

A fan asked McKellen on the actor's official Web site if he would play the role of Gandalf in "The Hobbit," which is being produced by Peter Jackson, director of the "Rings" trilogy.

"Yes, I will, if Peter Jackson and I have anything to do with it, he being the producer and me being, on the whole, a very lucky actor," McKellen, 68, said in a reply dated Wednesday.

Jackson reached a deal with New Line Cinema late last year to make two films of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," a planned prequel to the blockbuster "Rings" trilogy. Jackson will serve as executive producer for the "Hobbit" movies.

Another fan asked: "Have you been approached yet by Peter Jackson or anyone else" to play the ancient Wizard?

McKellen replied: "Encouragingly, Peter and (partner) Fran Walsh have told me they couldn't imagine `The Hobbit' without their original Gandalf."

"Their confidence hasn't yet been confirmed by the director Guillermo del Toro, but I am keeping my diary free for 2009!" he said.

Del Toro's manager, Gary Ungar, told The Associated Press on Friday that del Toro, director of "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy," is being considered for the "Hobbit" films.

"It's still under discussion, (but) yes," he said.

He declined to give any details, but when asked about an announcement timeline, he said: "I hope it resolves soon. .... Everybody has to agree in everything."

Associated Press Writer Sigal Ratner-Arias in New York City contributed to this report.

JeremyM

Didn't Paramount tell the author of "Forrest Gump" that the movie didn't make a profit and lost money, hence no bonus for him? I believe when they tried to acquire the rights to the sequel, he told them no, because he didn't want them to make a sequel to a money-losing film

B.A.

And the deal is done:

Guillermo del Toro to direct 'Hobbit'
Filmmaker signs on helm feature and sequel

By DAVE MCNARY

In a major step forward on “The Hobbit,” Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct the New Line-MGM tentpole and its sequel.

The widely expected announcement -- which had been rumored for several weeks -- came Thursday afternoon jointly from exec producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich, and Mary Parent, newly named chief of MGM’s Worldwide Motion Picture Group.

Del Toro’s moving to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Jackson and his Wingnut and Weta production teams. He’ll direct the two films back to back, with the sequel dealing with the 60-year period between “The Hobbit” and “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

New Line is overseeing development and will manage production. Both pics are being co-produced and co-financed by New Line Cinema and MGM, with Warner Bros. distributing domestically and MGM handling international.

Del Toro won’t leave for New Zealand immediately as he’s still in post-production on U’s “Hellboy 2,” due out in July. His previous pic, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” was released through New Line’s Picturehouse and set a record as the highest grossing Spanish language film in U.S. box office history.

The official signing of Del Toro comes four months after New Line settled a lawsuit with Jackson over “The Lord of the Rings” and announced that it had agreed with MGM to turn J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Hobbit” into two live-action films. Sam Raimi had been preceived as the initial front-runner as director but Del Toro had emerged in recent months as the likely candidate.

The studios didn’t give a start date on production and don’t yet have a script. Though no screenplay deal’s been set, it’s expected that the “LOTR” scripting team of Jackson, Walsh and Philippa Boyens will collaborate with Del Toro.

With Del Toro blocking out four years for the project, it’s likely that the studios are aiming at starting shooting next year and releasing the films in late 2011 and 2012.

Jackson’s WETA stages, post-production and visual effects facilities -- built for “The Lord of the Rings” -- will be used for both films. And New Zealand will again be the site of Middle-earth, with the story centering on Bilbo Baggins taking the Ring of Power from Gollum.

Read the full article at:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=10&cs=1

JJE-187

Great news, but that means we will only get 2 new Del Toro flicks in the next 4 years.

chris_sc77

Can't wait until the cast is revealed.

slop101

Worse than that, we'll only get 2 DelToro work-for-hire movies. I'm sure Hobbit will be fine, but I'd much rather see a couple more personal flicks from DelToro, like Pan's Labyrinth, than some watered-down LOTR - and honestly, that's really what The Hobbit is.

Furthermore, the story's a little thin for one movie, I can't imagine stretching it out to two.

The Bus

Well, finally Guillermo gets some Cuaron-level money for directing a movie.

True_Story1011

Looking forward to this now!!!!

Anubis2005X

So...how come Jackson isn't returning to direct? Not interested?

kstublen

Honestly, I'm not a fan of Lord Of The Rings or The Hobbit. Would have preferred if del Toro did something else for the next four years. I didn't like the Lord of The Rings movies, but I'll check these out based on the strength of everything else del Toro has done. Still, rather disappointed this is what he will be doing until 2012.

The Antipodean

Better change that thread title now.

al_bundy

probably too exhausted from LOTR. that was 8 years of constant work, and the last 3 years must have been insane

mikedeceased

Jackson said he would love to direct the films, but his directing schedule became so full that he wouldn't have been able to make the movies for a few years. Rather than make the fans wait around for him, he went with the Executive Producer role.

Jackskeleton

That's my boy!

RyoHazuki

I wonder what the second film will be called.

Story connecting cash grab wont fit on the marquee.

pinata242

That second movie is going to have to cover quite the span of time since the LOTR films clearly established how long ago Bilbo discovered the ring. They can't fudge the timeframe like they did with Gandalf's trip to Minas Tirith in FOTR.

DVDho78DTS

Awesome news!

Groucho

I thought they were going to split the book into two films, rather than have one film adapt the book and the other be a sequel?

slop101

Yeah, rumors of the 2nd Hobbit film being made up of parts from Silmarillion were debunked. The 2 Hobbit films will only be The Hobbit, as far as I've heard.

pinata242

Just going by the article posted here. Is there other, more official news as to what the 2nd movie will actually be about?

Jay G.

Plus, New Line couldn't have waited for Jackson, their option on the film expires in 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_(2010_film)

Jay G.

The 2nd film can't be based on the Silmarillion or any of the later History of Middle-earth books, since New Line doesn't have the rights to those or anything beyond The Hobbit and LOTR. They can, however, use material found in the appendices to LOTR, which could be used as some bridging material.

My guess is that it's going to be a bit of both. I've read a supposition that the fist film could end when the adventure dealing with Smaug the dragon ends. The second film could then pick up with dealing with The Battle of Five Armies, with some LOTR appendices material fleshing the film out.

Hiro11

Perfect chice, glad to see this deal finally closed. However, as other have said, splitting The Hobbit into two movies is going to be very difficult. Most of the plot points that could serve as an interim "ending" are towards the end.

Artman

That's how I've been reading it as well. Remember PJ's ideas were to expand the story beyond the Hobbit and include Aragorn, etc. If they can get the actors back, heck I'm all for it. The more the better!