In 2003, movie audiences across the world bid farewell to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy with The Return of the King.
In 2012, moviegoers will be reintroduced to Middle-earth.
After the conclusion of The Return of the King, fans of Tolkien’s books only had one question: When will The Hobbit come out?
A legal battle kept a hobbit project from developing until 2008. Peter Jackson, director of the trilogy, sued New Line Cinema over profits for The Fellowship of The Ring, a major component to the delays.
Originally, Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct the films, with Peter Jackson as executive producer; much to the fans' dismay. However, since the film experienced so many delays, including issues with filming in New Zeland, Del Toro backed out of directing.
On October 15, 2010, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. confirmed that the movie would begin filming with Peter Jackson directing.
The book will be broken down into two parts. The first movie will be titled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; while the second will go by The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
Filming was to be done back to back, so the movie would be released one year apart; similarly to the last installments of the Harry Potter movie series.
The book, The Hobbit, tells the story of hobbit Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo, Gandalf the Grey, and thirteen dwarves journey to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. On his journey, Bilbo encounters goblins, orcs, trolls, giant spiders, shapeshifters, and a creature named Gollum. It is in this movie that moviegoers familiar with the series learn how Bilbo acquired the ring of Sauron: consequently setting up the story behind how Frodo destroys the ring in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Several highly-acclaimed performers will return to Middle-earth including: Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Ian Mckellen (Gandalf), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Andy Serkis (Gollum), and Christopher Lee (Saruman). Not all returning characters are in the book version of The Hobbit. Fans expect that those characters will only play minor roles in the films.
Filming began on March 21, 2011 in New Zealand.
Photos have been released of both on and off set concept art. All 13 dwarves, Ian Mckellen, and Martin Freeman (Bilbo) can all be seen in full wardrobe.
The first installment is due for release in the United States on December 14, 2011.
Jordan Morey - Playing/analyzing the game of tennis for the past 10 years. I cover Women's tennis at college and am interning at my local newspaper.
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