I honestly wasn't keeping up with the LOTR litigation issues between Jackson and New Line throughout the years, but it seems now that everything has been sorted out.  And with that, it's been officially announced that Jackson and Fran Walsh are indeed onboard to "executive produce" the live-action adaptation of Tolkien's "The Hobbit."  They're planning two films with target releases for 2010 and 2011 under New Line and MGM:

http://www.thehobbitblog.com/

Thoughts?  Put Jackson in the directing chair, and bring back the two Ians, Serkis, and Shore.  That's all I ask. ;)

His manager says he's definitely not directing.

However, there are rumors that Guillermo del Toro might direct. I just saw Pan's Labyrinth last week and was wowed by it, so if Peter's not helming The Hobbit, Guillermo would be a great second choice.

Yeah, he needs to direct this. And get Howard Shore! I guess we'll see what happens...

I really enjoyed Jackson's take on the Lord of the Rings, but I thought it was a little too melodramatic for the most part. Tolkien wrote the books so that they can be enjoyed by adults, but primarily he wrote them for children. I found the books to be a lot more light-hearted than Jackson's take, and I especially found the Hobbit to be even more lighthearted than LOTR. I actually think the Rankin-Bass production of the Hobbit is excellent! Not perfect, but it really captures the feel and spirit of the book (and has a great soundtrack So, I hope whoever directs this doesn't make it too melodramatic, and definitely avoid making it Harry Potteresque!

cheers,

-avatar!

I'm going to disagree with avatar! here and say that the Lord of the Rings in written form is NOT very light-hearted, and that I think the relative heavy-handedness the movies employed matched it just fine.  The Hobbit, on the other hand, IS definitely a story for children (said by Tolkien himself, as opposed to LotR which was more for adults).  The thing I can't comprehend is why everyone on the internet seems to think Jackson is completely incapable of making films with different tones from each other.

All of this is kind of a moot point, though, since I'm reading that it's very likely Jackson won't be directing.  I guess we'll see how things turn out!

<quote>The thing I can't comprehend is why everyone on the internet seems to think Jackson is completely incapable of making films with different tones from each other.</quote>

I'm guessing a lot of people haven't seen Jackson's films prior to LotR.

Looks like del Toro is officially on board as director.  There's also an exclusive interview up at TheOneRing.net.

Just saw The Orphanage yesterday, by the way.  Amazing film. :)

As long as they hire Howard Shore, I'm cool.

Seconded on Shore (and I'm sure I'm not alone).

I'm looking forward to seeing Weta create a massive CG dragon but I hope this Samuel L Jackson as Smaug rumor turns out to be nothing more than that.

Okay that notion is just hilarious, and I haven't read it anywhere... I assume it's just some silly thing someone made up for a laugh.  It seems Howard Shore is already in talks to do the project, and even more importantly (for me), Ian McKellen is pretty much a lock for Gandalf again.  If he were missing from this project, there'd be hell to pay.  I'm sooooo looking forward to this!

Also, I'm kind of glad I got to New Zealand to see the Hobbiton set before they inevitably close it off to the public again while making these. 

All I care is that they make the damn thing freaking light-hearted like the book.  Don't make it all serious like the LOTR movies.  The Hobbit is a completely different experience than LOTR in literature, and I'd like to see it be the same way on film.

A recent webchat held by Jackson and Del Toro reveals a few enlightening facts about the project: 

http://www.wetanz.com/holics/index.php? … tid=2#more

To summarize the more pertinent points:

-2008 is being dedicated to the script writing, 2009 for pre-production, 2010 for the back-to-back shooting of the two films, post production for the first film throughout 2011 to be released at year's end, and then the same for the second film for 2012.  In the final words of Smeagol in The Two Towers: "Come on, hobbits. Long ways to go yet."

-Alan Lee and John Howe will return for art and production design.

-New Zealand will, of course, be the primary choice for location shooting.  They're aiming to again shoot Hobbiton in Matamata, and to build the set "bigger and even better than what it was for LOTR."

-Regarding the tone of the movies, Jackson states: "I personally feel that The Hobbit can, and should have a different tone. The 'tone' of these stories shouldn't be defined by the pressure our characters were under in LOTR. The world is a different place at the time of the Hobbit. The shadow is not so dark. However, what should stay the same is the reality of Middle-earth, and the integrity we bring to it as film makers." 

In terms of the dark elements of the film, Del Toro says that, "I hope that Mirkwood can be pretty scary but not graphic, I hope Riddles in the dark has an element of fear and suspense and to be deeply atmospheric but still allow the ingenious, engaging contest to take place. And Smaug should be all shock and awe when he unleashes his anger, so it will be pretty intense but not gory." 

-Jackson says they're aiming for a PG-13 rating.  Then Del Toro adds, "An intense PG-13."

-Howard Shore looks to be a definite lock for music composer.

-It's too early to say if there's going to be any Extended Editions of the films.  Says Jackson: "Whether there will be an extended edition of The Hobbit will depend entirely on the final theatrical cut and what we have left over."

-Other than Mckellen, no other casting options have been made yet.  A recent, earlier report stated, however, that Andy Serkis and Viggo Mortensen were approached.  The Q&A strongly alludes that Serkis will indeed be on board.

-They're working on a Blu-ray release for the original LOTR trilogy.  Negotiations are still happening, but a 2008 release isn't looking likely.