Just when we thought it was over

[Beren87]

Hmm..ol' PJ has a trick (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20040306/D814VP480.html) up his sleeve. We're beyond hinting now...He's at "planning".

[Gorwingel]

Oh of course he would love to do it. At least he isn't lying anymore by saying that he wouldn't ;)

Though I have heard that MGM (the only thing in the way of this happening) is someone who has made these type of rights fights go on for a very long time (we're talking years, like 9), so it could still be a while. But I wouldn't bet against seeing a PJ directed Hobbit sometime in the not so distant future.

[kboleen]

MGM needs a hit. All they have going for them is James Bond. I bet (if they know what is good for them) they will come to an agreement. Studios releasing movies together is nothing new, Dreamworks has been doing it a lot lately to great success.

[Eruwen]

Why would MGM get the rights to the film anyway? They didn't have any part in LOTR, did they? I thought it was all New Line. So...I don't get the reasoning behind the battle.

[Sleeping Beauty]

It's kind of confusing. MGM still holds the distrubition rights to the Hobbit. They bought all the rights off of Tolkien at the end of the sixties. But after some time, Saul Zaentz bought the rights to film the series off of MGM.

MGM had nothing to do with the LOTR series. Saentz struck a deal with film financier Bob Shaye(executive producer of the LOTR) to do the LOTR series. Question for anyone out there, does Saentz still hold the rights to The Hobbit, or did that come in the 270 million deal for LOTR series Shaye made?

I hope the fight won't take that long. They need to do it soon in the wake of the LOTR movie so they can still guarantee the characters that transcend(ie Gandalf, Gollum, Bilbo....)

Speaking of dear old Bilbo, my 111th post. Does this mean I can now disappear and go live with the elves? :smokin:

[kboleen]

I think it actually stems back to the cartoon. They may not have had anything to do with PJ's LOTR movies, but if they own a particular right to a portion of the Hobbit book to be made into a movie then they have a right in the say of how it gets made into a movie. I am confident they will come to an agreement, they want the money too, but as PJ has already said, it looks like 2006 or 2007 before he can even get started on it with King Kong on his books until its release Christmas 2005.

[Beren87]

Huh. Ian's getting old fast, too. Our Gandalf is going to croak.

[Firefoot]

Well, Beren87, that's a rather blunt way to put it.

I don't really care if they make the Hobbit or not. It would be easier than LotR, and I think they could do a good job of it. But I agree that it would probably be awhile before it comes out. I wonder how long the movie would be? Probably closer to a "regular length" movie. It'll be interesting to see what happens with MGM.

[Gorwingel]

Our Gandalf is going to croak.
Beren,
Ian McKellen is only in his 60's! It's gonna be a long time before he's gone.
I wonder how long the movie would be? Probably closer to a "regular length" movie.
I would highly doubt it... I am guessing it will most likely be 3 hours, or in that area. There is just so much detail in that book, and most likely they will even expand some scenes (Rivendell, the Elven King) because they already have the background to support it because of the LOTR.

[Mad Baggins]

Personally, I'm just curious as to what it would be like to see a Hobbit movie. PJ would probably do a very good job. Hopefully there would be no Osgiliath's in there.