"The Hobbit" Films are Back on Track

On January, 26th Peter Jackson was admitted to the hospital with a perforated ulcer, a very serious ailment.  It seemed that another wrench was thrown into the production of the long awaited "Hobbit" films. However, it was recently announced that Peter Jackson has been released and medically cleared to continue work on the motion pictures. 


The following statement from Jackson has been recently released. You can see the full article here.


"We take casting very seriously on every film we make, and we couldn't be more delighted with the group of wonderful actors we have gathered here," he wrote. "Those of you who are familiar with 'The Hobbit' will know the importance of the comradeship between Bilbo and each of his 13 dwarf adventurers. I couldn't be more excited about working with these actors, and the others soon to join us. I'm feeling these movies are going to be something very special." 


This is great news to the thousands of movie-goers who are looking forward to being taken back to Middle-Earth. Ever since the success of the "Lord of the Rings" franchise, fans have been crying out for the production of "The Hobbit". Much of the cast has already signed on to do the film, however financial and creative direction have derailed its production. At first there was the disagreement between New Line and Peter Jackson. When the "Lord of the Rings" films were being made no one believed they would be as successful as they ended up being. New Line had a contract with Peter Jackson over the money from the DVD distribution of the films. Jackson felt he was entitled to much more of the profit from the films than he received and filed suit against the production company. It was shortly announced that Peter Jackson was banned from working with New Line.


The project was soon bought by Warner Bros. Peter Jackson said he would write the script and executive produce the project, but didn't want to tackle directing the picture. It was announced that Guillermo Del Torro ("Pan's Labyrinth", "Hellboy") would direct the picture, but due to the excessive amounts of delays and creative issues, Del Torro also backed out. I personally thought that if Jackson wasn't going to direct, than Del Torro was a perfect substitute. They are two of the most creative directors in Hollywood today and I was excited that they were getting the opportunity to collaborate. 


Finally after 5 years of speculation, delays, and lawsuits, Peter Jackson announced that he would direct the picture. The story is to be broken up into two parts but filmed simultaneously, the first of wich will be released in December 2012 and the second December 2013. As a film-buff I am cannot wait for the release of "The Hobbit". From a team-management perspective, it will be interesting to see if the production of the film can be pulled off in such a short time. They are scheduled to begin filming in just over a month and the first picture is to be released in less than two-years. It took almost more than 3 years to film the "Lord of the Rings" pictures and with considerably less problems going into production. 


Below is a recently released picture of the cast:

http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/02/11/the-hobbit-part-1-press-conference-coverage/


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/


http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=20631