[Dain]

I think it would make a great film, though I agree it would have a different feel than LotR (I'm sure they could explain that to people). It does have great potential for action sequences to keep people happy (trolls, storms, goblins, wargs, spiders, dragons and a huge battle at the end), and even though the book is more a children's story (it's still really my favourite), you could make the film enjoyable for all audiences. It has a happy ending, but through most of it the party is in constant danger and there are a lot of great scenes I'd like to see on film. They'd probably have to skip quite a few things, come to think of it, but I'm sure a dragon alone would be a great draw. Cast would be tricky, though, because Ian Holm isn't young enough. I'm sure Sir Ian McKellen would return, though, for his relatively limited part. <P>I alway's thought it would be hard to do because you'd need a bunch of short people, but since they are all short, all you really need is oversized sets and camera angles! The same team would have to do it, but they could make it a bit lighter and cheerier--it could be a great stand-alone film that everyone could enjoy (those who don't want 10 hours of constant doom and drama from LotR).<P>Basically, I just want to see a film with more dwarves. As long as they aren't ridiculously silly... <P>C'mon, how can the not do it at this point!