Second Hobbit Film Not Certain
Things are never simple when it comes to The Lord of the Rings. There was lawsuit after lawsuit, and now the second Hobbit film, that was supposed to be a bridge between The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring, could be at risk.
It seems there is an issue of copyright, which Guillermo Del Toro points out:
In the four books that are in the domain of the copyright, there are appendices and ideas and things that can be traced without risk. But I have to be careful not to overstep. We believe there is a way to create this film and make it interesting, but it’s too early.
So they can create a second film from the ideas and appendices that exist, however they have to be careful about wandering into other areas they don’t own the copyright to.
Del Toro also went on to say:
We believe there is a second movie, if there isn’t, there will not be. If we find it, we will shoot it, but by God, if we do not find it, we will not shoot it. I am anxious to shoot the book, and I’m willing and able to dedicate myself to shooting the [second film].
It seems at the moment nothing is certain and they still do not know whether to split The Hobbit into two movies, or contain it into one.
Guillermo Del Toro says on the TORn message boards that things will get started once he has finished his Hellboy 2 rounds and Peter Jackson has finished work on The Lovely Bones.
McKellen Confirms Hobbit Habit
Sir Ian McKellen is going there and back again.
The acclaimed British thespian, who, as the wizard Gandalf the Grey, helped shepherd Frodo Baggins through a perilous journey in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has announced he will reprise his Academy Award-nominated role for the hugely anticipated Hobbit prequels.
"Yes, it's true," McKellen told Britain's Empire movie magazine. "It's not a part that you turn down. I love playing Gandalf."
The twin films will be based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which of course he published before his epic Lord of the Rings cycle.
This time around, however, the 68-year-old McKellen will team up with Jackson's bespectacled stand-in, Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth), who announced last week that he was moving to New Zealand for four years to take the reins on the project.
Jackson and longtime partner Fran Walsh, who already have their hands full adapting the beloved Tintin to the big screen, among other films in the pipeline, will serve as executive producers on the Hobbit flicks and collaborate with del Toro to ensure proper continuity with their Oscar-winning LOTR.
The first Hobbit movie will follow the story of Frodo's uncle, Bilbo Baggins (played in the LOTR films by Sir Ian Holm), as he journeys with a group of dwarves to a dragon's lair to recover stolen treasure. The second will mine material from Tolkien's appendices about the 60 years between The Hobbit and the start of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
McKellen added that he was excited to be working with the Mexican-born helmer, who's beginning to work on the scripts.
"I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part, and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role," Sir Ian said. "As to how it's going to work over two films and what's going to happen onscreen, well, Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yetI can tell you it's going to be amazing though."
Talking to the fansite TheOneRing.net, del Toro confirmed McKellen's casting as well as that of Andy Serkis, who's once again aboard to play Gollum. Serkis, in fact, has added The Hobbit to his list of upcoming films on his official Website, just after Jackson's Tintin.
Filming on the Hobbit movies is set to get under way in 2009, with the films unspooling in 2010 and 2011.
Del Toro Gets Down to Middle-Earth
The Hobbit's got itself a handler.
Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct the long-gestating adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's pre-Lord of the Rings masterpiece, as well as a sequel chronicling the Middle-Earth action that takes place during the 60 years before Bilbo Baggins passes that pesky piece of jewelry on to his cousin Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Mexican-born filmmaker will be relocating to New Zealand for four years to shoot the two films back to back, the way Peter Jacksonwho is producing the venture for cofinanciers New Line Cinema and MGMdid with his LOTR trilogy.
New Line, which is overseeing development and production, said Thursday there is no script to speak of yet, but it's likely the Oscar-winning team of Jackson, wife Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens will collaborate with del Torohimself an Original Screenplay nominee for Pan's Labyrinth last yearon the project.
"I am indeed blessed to become a part of the filmmaking community that Peter, Fran and their extraordinary team of collaborators have created in New Zealand," del Toro said in a statement. "Contributing to the Lord of the Rings legacy is an absolute dream come true."
Jackson and Walsh returned the compliment in their own statement, labeling del Toro "a cinematic magician who has never lost his childlike sense of wonder."
"We have long admired Guillermo's work and cannot think of a more inspired filmmaker to take the journey back to Middle-Earth," they said.
Jackson was originally going to do the behind-the-camera honors himself, but a squabble with New Line over his LOTR proceeds put an end to that fanciful idea. Although they settled their differences late last year, by then Jackson was already committed to bringing Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones to the big screen, and del Toro arose as the likely choice to succeed Jackson as the cinematic master of Middle-earth.
But del Toro can't delve into this brave new world just yet. He's currently still ensconced in postproduction on Hellboy 2, a sequel to the surprise 2004 hit about a big red demon who fights the forces of darkness.
AFI’s Top 100 Greatest Movies of All Time
The American Film Institute has released it’s annual list of the top 100 greatest movies of all time. This list, like most other lists, will probably lead to more than a few disagreements. There are placement problems (Titanic places higher than Blade Runner?), there are movies that deserve to be on the list but aren’t (Roger Ebert pointed out Fargo’s absence) and even movies that are on the list but shouldn’t be (Platoon?). And Citizen Kane is #1 yet again. I understand why this movie should have a place on this list. I understand the film’s importance. But don’t you think it’s time to give another film the spotlight? There is not a film in the top 49 spots that was made in the last 14 years. And by my count, there is only one movie listed from this millennium (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring). Check out the list after the jump.
AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE’S GREATEST MOVIES
1. “Citizen Kane” (1941)
2. “The Godfather” (1972)
3. “Casablanca” (1942)
4. “Raging Bull” (1980)
5. “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952)
6. “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
7. “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)
8. “Schindler’s List” (1993)
9. “Vertigo” (1958)
10. “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)
11. “City Lights” (1931)
12. “The Searchers” (1956)
13. “Star Wars” (1977)
14. “Psycho” (1960)
15. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)
16. “Sunset Boulevard” (1950)
17. “The Graduate” (1967)
18. “The General” (1927)
19. “On the Waterfront” (1954)
20. “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)
21. “Chinatown” (1974)
22. “Some Like It Hot” (1959)
23. “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940)
24. “E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
25. “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962)
26. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939)
27. “High Noon” (1952)
28. “All About Eve” (1950)
29. “Double Indemnity” (1944)
30. “Apocalypse Now” (1979)
31. “The Maltese Falcon” (1941)
32. “The Godfather, Part II” (1974)
33. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)
34. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
35. “Annie Hall” (1977)
36. “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957)
37. “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)
38. “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948)
39. “Dr. Strangelove” (1964)
40. “The Sound of Music” (1965)
41. “King Kong” (1933)
42. “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967)
43. “Midnight Cowboy” (1969)
44. “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)
45. “Shane” (1953)
46. “It Happened One Night” (1934)
47. “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951)
48. “Rear Window” (1954)
49. “Intolerance” (1916)
50. “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001)
51. “West Side Story” (1961)
52. “Taxi Driver” (1976)
53. “The Deer Hunter” (1978)
54. “M*A*S*H” (1970)
55. “North by Northwest” (1959)
56. “Jaws” (1975)
57. “Rocky” (1976)
58. “The Gold Rush” (1925)
59. “Nashville” (1975)
60. “Duck Soup” (1933)
61. “Sullivan’s Travels” (1941)
62. “American Graffiti” (1973)
63. “Cabaret” (1972)
64. “Network” (1976)
65. “The African Queen” (1951)
66. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)
67. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966)
68. “Unforgiven” (1992)
69. “Tootsie” (1982)
70. “A Clockwork Orange” (1971)
71. “Saving Private Ryan” (1998)
72. “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994)
73. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969)
74. “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
75. “In the Heat of the Night” (1967)
76. “Forrest Gump” (1994)
77. “All the President’s Men” (1976)
78. “Modern Times” (1936)
79. “The Wild Bunch” (1969)
80. “The Apartment” (1960)
81. “Spartacus” (1960)
82. “Sunrise” (1927)
83. “Titanic” (1997)
84. “Easy Rider” (1969)
85. “A Night at the Opera” (1935)
86. “Platoon” (1986)
87. “12 Angry Men” (1957)
88. “Bringing Up Baby” (1938)
89. “The Sixth Sense” (1999)
90. “Swing Time” (1936)
91. “Sophie’s Choice” (1982)
92. “Goodfellas” (1990)
93. “The French Connection” (1971)
94. “Pulp Fiction” (1994)
95. “The Last Picture Show” (1971)
96. “Do the Right Thing” (1989)
97. “Blade Runner” (1982)
98. “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942)
99. “Toy Story” (1995)
100. “Ben-Hur” (1959)