Three Hobbit Films Confirmed by Peter Jackson

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I think this deserves it's own thread, don't you?

From Facebook:

It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie - and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.'



We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.



So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.



It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, "a tale that grew in the telling."



Cheers,



Peter J

[River]

I'm more scared than happy about this...

[Holbytla]

I don't know if this is good, bad or indifferent, but this project is no longer just The Hobbit. Actually I'm not sure it ever was. Not since del Toro quit anyway.

This is not your father's Hobbit.

[Lalaith]

Is this legit?

[Frelga]

I would've been happier with just The Hobbit - Bilbo's journey where all the grand stuff is only a tantalizing hint in the background. The sheer quantity of invented material and dialog does not inspire much confidence in me. Ah well, I'm sure it will look pretty, anyway.

[Primula Baggins]

Holy smokes. I was looking at the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1.

I will have to hear a lot more about this before I know what to think.

[Elentári]

My reaction, too, Prim...

I really don't know what to make of the news just yet. I am always excited for more Middle Earth, but would like to see in detail how they are going to manage it - how they are going to split the story, what exactly is being included from the Appendices - to get a better idea of whether it is going to work or not for me.

One thing is for sure, they may well be great movies, but it definitely not going to be The Hobbit as Tolkien presented it to the world...it will be far closer in tone and scale to LotR - which of course was always inevitable with the trilogy having been filmed first.

At the moment I can't say I feel comfortable with the whole thing.

[WampusCat]

I will be contrary and confess to excitement, perhaps in part because "The Hobbit" isn't as close to my heart as LOTR, so I'm less perturbed by potential expansions and changes.

I hope, though, that this wasn't just a case of a director unwilling to edit down his work. Almost every work benefits from a tight focus.

Still, more time in Middle-earth? I'll take it.

[yovargas]

Very holy smokes. I was 100% dismissive of the 3-movie rumor as it seems so absurd and unlikely. I'm not one who minds these movies being closer to LOTR than the book but I really can't imagine they really have enough stuff to pad this little children's fairytale out to near-LOTR length. Count me as ultra-skeptical...

[axordil]

The feeling I get--and it's just that--is that PJ ended up with a little more really good footage than he could fit in even two 150 minute releases, so rather than cut, or exile material to the EEs, they chose to expand it out to three 120 minute releases or some such. The box office would be significantly better that way (more shows per day and an additional release).

This really could go off the rails, obviously.

[Elentári]

The feeling I get--and it's just that--is that PJ ended up with a little more really good footage than he could fit in even two 150 minute releases, so rather than cut, or exile material to the EEs, they chose to expand it out to three 120 minute releases or some such. The box office would be significantly better that way (more shows per day and an additional release).

This really could go off the rails, obviously.

Actually, that's a good point, Ax...look at how much material PJ filmed for LotR - there's the 2 hours of extra footage we got with the 3 EEs, plus there's apparently other stuff we have never seen - pretty much enough for a 4th film, which would have helped pace the story, particularly in RotK, far more evenly. So perhaps PJ is talking sense here, after all...

[yovargas]

Well, except to get LOTR down to 9 hours is tough, whereas getting The Hobbit up to even five seems like a stretch...

[Elentári]

Following PJ's Facebook statement, Collider are reporting that the 3rd Hobbit film will be released Summer 2014

[Primula Baggins]

I'm just, well, flabbergasted. Will they make any changes to the first film? Can they, in such a short time? And if the first one is set, that means the material meant for the second, plus whatever else PJ can shoot, has to make two films.

On the other hand, I'm like Wampus—The Hobbit is not dear to me, even though LotR is. I think the result as a film and as a trip to Middle-earth will make the difference for me. It's even a bit exciting to wonder what, exactly, in the Appendices will now be added to the film.

PJ's an idiot if he doesn't shoehorn the beginning of Aragorn and Arwen's tale in there somehow. I have no idea if it would work chronologically, but it's something that would work as a lead-in to FotR and maybe add weight to Aragorn's story throughout the three LotR films.

I am not much of a purist, obviously.

[Alatar]

The full Press Release:

New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Warner Bros. Pictures Announce Third Film in The Hobbit Trilogy

BURBANK, CA, JULY 30, 2012 — Peter Jackson will make a third film in his upcoming adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officers, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

Jackson, the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker behind the blockbuster “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, recently wrapped principal photography on what he originally planned to be a two-film adaptation of The Hobbit, which is set in Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings.

Jackson stated, “Upon recently viewing a cut of the first film, and a chunk of the second, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and I were very pleased with the way the story was coming together. We recognized that the richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, gave rise to a simple question: do we tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as filmmakers and fans was an unreserved ‘yes.’ We know the strength of our cast and of the characters they have brought to life. We know creatively how compelling and engaging the story can be and—lastly, and most importantly—we know how much of the tale of Bilbo Baggins, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur would remain untold if we did not fully realize this complex and wonderful adventure. I’m delighted that New Line, MGM and Warner Bros. are equally enthusiastic about bringing fans this expansive tale across three films.”

Emmerich stated, “We completely support Peter and his vision for bringing this grand adventure to the screen over the course of three films. Peter, Fran and Philippa’s reverence for the material and understanding of these characters ensure an exciting and expanded journey that is bound to please fans around the world.”

“With the abundance of rich material, we fully endorse the decision to further develop what Peter, Fran and Philippa have already begun. We are confident that, with the great care the filmmakers have taken to faithfully bring this journey to the screen, the film will be welcomed by the legions of fans across the globe,” said Barber and Birnbaum.

Robinov added, “Peter, Fran and Philippa have lived in this world and understand more than anyone its tremendous breadth and scope, and the relationships that bind it together. We strongly support their vision to bring this great work fully to life.”

The first film in the trilogy, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” will be released December 14, 2012, with the second film releasing on December 13, 2013, and the third film slated for summer 2014. All three films will be released in 3D and 2D in select theatres and IMAX

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes three films based on The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. The trilogy of films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. Returning cast members from “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy also include Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, and Andy Serkis as “Gollum.” The international ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Billy Connolly, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner.

The screenplay for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

Under Jackson’s direction, all three movies are being shot in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Additional filming, as with principal photography, is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and its successive installments are productions of New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing, being handled by MGM.

[Dave_LF]

In December 2003 when the words "The Return of the King" appeared on the screen I thought "That's probably it. Maybe once more if The Hobbit ever manages to get made." But apparently that was just the halfway point.

[Primula Baggins]

It will feel very weird to go to the opening of a Tolkien film when it isn't Christmastime. OTOH, I wouldn't be astonished if that summer date slips, maybe even back to December.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I will repeat something that I just wrote at TORN.

I keep thinking of Christopher's introduction to Unfinished Tales:

That The Silmarillion should remain unknown was for me out of the question, despite its disordered state, and despite my father's known if very largely unfulfilled intentions for its transformation; and in that case I presumed, after long hesitation, to present the work not in the form of an historical study, a complex of divergent texts interlinked by commentary, but as a completed and cohesive entity. The narratives in this book are indeed on an altogether different footing: taken together they constitute no whole, and the book is no more than a collection of writings, disparate in form, intent, finish, and date of composition (and in my own treatment of them), concerned with Númenor and Middle-earth. But the argument for their publication is not different in its nature, though it is of lesser force, from that which I held to justify the publication of The Silmarillion. Those who would not have forgone the images of Melkor with Ungoliant looking down from the summit of Hyarmentir upon "the fields and pastures of Yavanna, gold beneath the tall wheat of the gods"; of the shadows of Fingolfin's host cast by the first moonrise in the West; of Beren lurking in wolf's shape beneath the throne of Morgoth; or of the light of the Silmaril suddenly revealed in the darkness of the Forest of Neldoreth – they will find, I believe, that imperfections of form in these tales are much outweighed by the voice (heard now for the last time) of Gandalf, teasing the lordly Saruman at the meeting of the White Council in the year 2851, or describing in Minas Tirith after the end of the War of the Ring how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-End; by the arising of Ulmo Lord of Waters out of the sea at Vinyamar; by Mablung of Doriath hiding "like a vole" beneath the ruins of the bridge at Nargothrond; or by the death of Isildur as he floundered up out of the mud of Anduin.

I think a similar argument can be applied to this decision.

[Folca]

Perhaps he ovespent on shorts and tuxedo tops and needs to come up with more money.

I am a purist, and had no doubt PJ would run hog wild with The Hobbit, considering his abuse of LOTR. Great movies, but not equal to the actual story, though I don't think anyone else would have done a better job than he did presenting Middle Earth. I await this with even more trepidation than I previously harbored.

[Impenitent]

I'll take it gladly, even if I suffer disappointments in the watching of it.