By Bassam Tarazi | Image property of respective holders.
The Hobbit
Much to the chagrin of Tolkein fans everywhere, Peter Jackson will not be directing the much anticipated, The Hobbit as New Line Cinema has moved in another direction. The news was broken by theonering.net where Jackson wrote a letter explaining the situation.
Jackson, of course is the man who brought us the wondrous LOTR trilogy, not to mention King Kong. Jackson was not going to start filming The Hobbit until his lawsuit against New Line Cinema for money owed, was handled. Considering it takes months for me to fight a speeding ticket, I can’t imagine what suing New Line Cinema entails. Odds are you better have your schedule cleared.
Jackson and Walsh Off The Hobbit
It seems as if New Line Cinema told Jackson that they would deal with the lawsuit if Jackson agreed to do The Hobbit. You don’t exactly strong arm a man who was majorly responsible for making your company over $3 billion (yes, that’s million with a ‘b’) worldwide by directing the LOTR trilogy.
There are of course two sides to every story but New Line might regret this deal as fans of the Tolkein novel are pretty hardcore and have already written petitions and may even get together a boycott of New Line’s films. Tough break for New Line I must say, but every scape needs its goat.
New Line Cinema might also face an interesting situation if Ian McKellen (Gandolf) or Andy Serkis (Gollum) decide to not join on for The Hobbit and stay loyal to Jackson. All in all it seems as if money and “the bottom line” are influencing Hollywood. I never thought I would see the day.
Jackson fans, don’t worry about not seeing your leader in action for too long. He and his wife/producer, Fran Walsh are writing their adaptation Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones which should start shooting in a year’s time.
Add to Heffee!
