Oh, no one will film them this year, or next. But someone will film them again, sometime. Only Ben Hur has stood the test of time never to be refilmed. Someone will take another crack at The Hobbit sometime.
Maybe that's naive of me. Probably. But to me the films are fan fiction: large, expensive, very popular fan fiction. I've written some myself, and some love it and some hate it, but my work hasn't tainted the Canon at all. I like to think the Professor would enjoy my work and someday I'll ask him. Maybe at that time I'll also ask what he thought of the movies.
While I wouldn't put the Professor's work in quite the same class as the bible, in my mind he certainly ranks with Shakespeare. And that may be a comforting thought. Shakespeare has been interpreted for centuries, and how many movies of Hamlet do we have? Yet the Bard' s original text is still speaking four centuries or so later.
The Bard. The Professor. Which one do you respect more? Which one would you rather meet? Imagine talking with Shakespeare about what his favorite Romeo and Juliet production is. Plays, movies, even ballets to choose from...
Maybe The Professor would prefer the Rankin Bass Hobbit over PJ's Hobbit. I know in some ways I do. But then again, PJ's barrels chase scene was too much fun. I want to see it again.
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...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.
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