The Hobbit (2009 film)
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| The Hobbit | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Novel: J. R. R. Tolkien |
| Distributed by | - Worldwide - MGM |
| Release date(s) | 2009 |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Hobbit is an announced fantasy film that will likely be released in 2009.[attribution needed] It will be based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit, which takes place several decades before the events of his later novel The Lord of the Rings, which was originally published in three volumes; thus the film is considered a prelude to New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, adaptations of the latter work. New Line has production rights until 2008, while MGM retains the worldwide distribution rights.
[edit] Production status
In March 2005, Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, said that the beginning of shooting was at least three or four years away. He was shooting a remake of King Kong at the time.[1] Producer Saul Zaentz said in an interview with a German magazine on November 17, 2006 that the movie was definitely going to be made with Jackson at the helm and MGM executive Harry Sloan had given the release date as 2008 or 2009.[2]
New Line originally planned to have Jackson direct once he became available after directing his upcoming book adaption The Lovely Bones and the currently stalled Halo project, where he is acting as executive producer. However, on November 19, 2006 the well-known Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net, which has close ties with the New Zealand filmmaker, posted an e-mail from Peter Jackson in which he stated that New Line will be finding someone else to direct The Hobbit and a prequel to his The Lord of the Rings films.[3] In the e-mail Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh said New Line is actively looking to hire another film maker for both projects. The demise of the partnership was due to an ongoing lawsuit with the studios over accounting practices regarding profits Jackson deemed unjust from the first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring.[4] In an unexpected move Mark Ordesky, previously the executive producer liaison between the New Zealand based production and Hollywood for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, informed Jackson that the studio decided to move on since the lawsuit was still pending and unresolved. Time was the major factor that hastened New Line's decision to boycott Jackson and his production house Wingnut Films due to the upcoming expiration of New Line's option to make the film. The option lasts until 2008, and unless New Line officially begins production on the movie before the expiration date, the rights to adapt the book would fall back to the Saul Zaentz Company, who bought them in 1976 and owns Tolkien Enterprises.
Many Tolkien fans responded quickly to the news, and many of them were not happy. These fans decried the decision, and the Sydney Morning Herald questioned if the lucrative film franchise could be successful without Jackson's creative and artistic direction.[5]
The distribution owner MGM Studios, furious from this conflict of interests with New Line, claims this is far from over[6] and defends Jackson along with Saul Zaentz to be the director behind the motion picture.
The feud escalated in January 2007, when New Line co-chairman Robert Shaye stated in an interview that Jackson will never work for the studio again, and that Jackson "only wants more money". Jackson responded with a statement that the lawsuit was merely over New Line's alleged failure to account for financial anomalies discovered in a partial audit of the books for the first film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and that he had no personal issues with Shaye or any other New Line personnel.[7] Rumors about Sam Raimi (of Evil Dead and Spider-Man fame) directing The Hobbit are false. Robert Shaye isn't sure who will direct the Hobbit, but he says if his company (New Line Cinema) makes it, then they will hire a well known director who is talented.[citation needed]
Update:
Recently things have changed.The distribution writes for The Hobbit are brocken down into 2 parts; production distrubition rights and worldwide distribution rights. The productional distribution rights belong to New Line Cinema, MGM studios, and Platinum Dunes. The worldwide distribution rights belong to just MGM studios. Also, the exexutive producers for The Hobbit will be Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller [8]
