Monday, September 11, 2006

About that Lord of the Rings prequel we mentioned on last week's show....

On last Thursday's show, we promised you that we would get to the bottom of this.

Quint, from Aint-it-Cool-News ran a quick blurb from Peter Jackson on the rumored Hobbit film that was nearing production in the coming months ahead. According to Quint, news of the upcoming production was news to P.J., despite the announcement in Variety saying that the award winning director was already on board. Quint also mentioned that Jackson's schedule gets "more crowded every passing week." Considering that he is now producing like a million different movies for Universal, I see what he means.

interestingly enough, the rights of the Hobbit film are still tied up between New Line and MGM. Apparently while New Like owns the rights to actually make the film, the roaring lion has the rights to distribute it. If a movie is to be made, New Line will either have to fork over a lot of cash to MGM to buy them out (something that is highly unlikely - when your biggest hit of the year so far is The Pink Panther remake, a studio like MGM needs a movie like this to boost their non-existent bottom line), or the two of them will have to work together.

I said this on the show, and I am going to say it again. I really think a theatrical film based on the Hobbit is a terrible idea. The book is too silly to either be done accurately or in a way that will live up to the previous trilogy's hordes of fans. There are no epic battles, and the story is just as goofy as the Hobbiton scenes from the original film. New Line could essentially sidestep MGM's distribution rights and release the film as a mini-series on HBO (a la Band of Brothers), make a shit ton of money on DVD sales, and call it a day without creating the mass disappointment or inaccuracy that will be a Hobbit live-action film. I now leave you with two fan-made trailers for the Hobbit. One is great while the other is not so much. I will let you guess which is which for yourself.



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