Last night went a little crazy on The Hobbit front with reports coming out that Warner Bros. will take on the world wide distribution of Peter Jackson’s movie, putting up the entire 0m for the movie with MGM retaining international television rights. Following that, news broke that Elijah Wood (Frodo in The Lord of the Rings) was going to be returning to the franchise which seemed rather crazy considering he doesn’t appear in The Hobbit at all.
Fortunately, the experts on everything to do with the franchise, The OneRing.net (with a heads up nod to BleedingCool) have uncovered how Wood will be a part of the movie detailing news that they’ll be a sequence which will show Frodo reading about the story of The Hobbit from a book.
As readers of The Hobbit know, the tale of The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit or There and Back Again are contained in the fictional Red Book of Westmarch. In Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, the books are shown on screen and written by Bilbo and Frodo and handed off to Sam Gamges. (Not explained on film are Sam’s progeny later having the book and being Wardens of Westmarch – hence the books title).
This news follows our reports last year with news that Orlando Bloom would be back for The Hobbit reprising his role as Elf, Legolas and Cate Blanchett would return in her previous role as Galadriel.
More on this as we get it. We’d love to hear your throughts in the comments section below…
LOS ANGELES, CA, January 6, 2011- Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber, MGM Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officers, Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema and Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that MGM and Warner Bros have concluded a deal for Warner Bros. Pictures to handle international theatrical and video distribution responsibilities on MGM’s behalf for Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”. This arrangement results in Warner Bros. Pictures handling the bulk of worldwide distribution, while MGM will handle international television licensing for the films. MGM and WB will work collaboratively to coordinate marketing and release plans worldwide.
Jackson, who directed all three “The Lord of the Rings” films, will helm the two films back-to-back, telling the story of “The Hobbit” from screenplays written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro.
The two “Hobbit” films are set to begin production in February 2011, with release dates targeted for December 2012 and December 2013. Jackson will utilize groundbreaking visual effects and his incomparable storytelling to bring Tolkien’s novel to the big screen. Both “Hobbit” movies will be filmed in Digital 3-D, using the latest camera and stereo technology to create a high quality, comfortable viewing experience.
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham are producing the films for New Line, Warner Bros and MGM, with co-writer Philippa Boyens serving as co-producer and Ken Kamins and Zane Weiner as executive producers. The Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, also from the production team of Jackson, Walsh and Cunningham, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box office. In 2003, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture – the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time.
