The Hobbit gets green-light and announces February start

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

but because it looks like they are not going to make it a party of comic reliefs to follow Bilbo and Gandalf!

That is my biggest reservation about the films...that we get 13 Gimli's on screen, which would unbearable for me to watch.

[Leyrana Silumiel]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

That is my biggest reservation about the films...that we get 13 Gimli's on screen, which would unbearable for me to watch.

I think this is my concern too, that PJ and Company may think they've set it into the viewer's minds that dwarf = comedic relief and so make all thirteen dwarves comic relief. If they do that, I will be less than pleased, needless to say.

[Mithalwen]

My parents came from Warwickshire so I spat my coffee during the coverage of the NZ protests when they claimed Middle Earth started in NZ....

[davem]

Hobbit deal costs New Zealand changes in labour laws and $25m tax break http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/...al-new-zealand

Yesterday (NZ Prime Minister John) Key declared that the new labour laws would be altered to recognise the difference between a contract worker and a movie production employee. He also announced an expansion in the nation's film subsidy programme, providing a tax rebate thought to be worth around $25m. "We will be moving to ensure that New Zealand law in this area is settled to give producers like Warner Bros the confidence they need to produce their movies in New Zealand," he said.

&
UPDATE 1-New Zealand divided over govt deal to keep Hobbit http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE69R1EH20101028

Included in the agreement was an offer of $25 million, some $15 million of that in tax breaks, and the law changes, which are being pushed through without the normal process of referral to a parliamentary committee and public submissions.....

"(It is) a solution that will enable Warner Bros and the international film community to restore their confidence in the New Zealand screen production environment," said Penelope Borland, chief executive of the Screen Production and Development Association of NZ.

But union officials, who had given assurances that the films would not be hit by industrial action, were outraged.

"That a foreign corporation can come into this country and demand that workers' rights in this industry be removed...that's effectively what's going to happen today," said Helen Kelly, the head of the Council of Trade Unions.

So, New Zealand gets to keep The Hobbit - & all it has to do is allow an unelected movie company re-write its laws.

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by Leyrana Silumiel

I think this is my concern too, that PJ and Company may think they've set it into the viewer's minds that dwarf = comedic relief and so make all thirteen dwarves comic relief. If they do that, I will be less than pleased, needless to say.

Must be ten years since I last read The Hobbit, so correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the dwarves mostly function as comic relief in the book as well?

[Inziladun]

This claims Bofur and Ori have been cast, but McKellen has not signed a contract yet.
I like the part where it says Ori was "another Dwarf who fights the infamous dragon, Smaug".

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I like the part where it says Ori was "another Dwarf who fights the infamous dragon, Smaug".

Despair!

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Originally Posted by Inziladun
I like the part where it says Ori was "another Dwarf who fights the infamous dragon, Smaug".

What the h*ll!

And no doubt you can sat goodbye to nuances such as
one of Tolkien's best written bits in The Hobbit wnere Bilbo
goes alone in to confront Smaug.

It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was
the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened
afterwards were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in
the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.

Also see Tom Shippey's analysis in J.R.R. Tolkien.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Lommy

Despair!

Despair not! That's just really lazy reporting. The article Zil's linking to regurgitates another article (posted on The One Ring.net, though I'm sure where it comes from originally) which in turn is based on statements by Jackson and the studio executives.

Originally Posted by The first article

Newcomer, Adam Brown will play Ori, another of the Dwarf Company which sets out to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the infamous dragon, Smaug.

A bit different, no?