The Hobbit films (2012 & 2013)
 

Are you looking forward to these movies? I sure am. Peter Jackson is a lot more open about the filming than he was with LOTR. He has released three clips from the set. Pretty neat to see all the old and new actors in full gear.


‪The Hobbit: Peter Jackson's First Video Blog from the Set‬‏ - YouTube


‪THE HOBBIT, Production Video #2 [HD]‬‏ - YouTube


‪THE HOBBIT, Production Video #3 [HD]‬‏ - YouTube

My only problem is that it seems like Jackson is trying to squeeze as many of the old actors in as possible. Saruman, Galadriel, Frodo and Legolas will all appear in these movies, even though they didn't in the novel.

Also, here's a poster-ish picture of all the 13 dwarves:
http://i.imgur.com/ppGHF.jpg

Movies?! There was one book. So why two movies?

Uh-oh. Is Peter Jackson gaining weight again?

I wondered that as well, but the Hobbit book is less stringent than LOTR in that certain elements can easily be added to the story without detracting from the story. I`m glad its two movies and I imagine they`ll do scenes like "Gollums Riddles" Mirkwood and the battle of the 5 armies really well.

They will also add an entire second storyline that deals with how the White Council (Elrond, Gandald, Radagast, Saruman, Galadriel etc.) drove Sauron out of the Mirkwood. That was only mentioned in passing in the novel. So I kinda see why they need two movies.

I guessed it might involve something like this and if they include the forest stronghold of Dol Guldar in Mirkwood that woud be impressive.

I liked the LOTR movies, but they kind of took the soul out of Middle Earth. They took out a lot of the elements that made Middle Earth seem like a vibrant living place (like Tom Bombadill and the barrow wights) and a lot of the stuff that brought the story down from it's more epic fantasy moments to a more human level (like the songs). This was understandable, because of time constraints, but I can't see The Hobbit surviving that. It was a much more down to Earth, fun kind of book. Hopefully they won't treat it like they did the LOTR movies.

Well, The Lord of the Rings was only one "book" as well. It's a common misconception that it was a trilogy. It's actually divided into six smaller books.

I'm surprised at the two movies as well. I haven't read The Hobbit in a long time but wasn't it a pretty short book, at least relative to the LOTR series? Seems like just a money grab.

Anyways, I'm not complaining. The movies will just be more in depth.

Having two movies will allow more higher quality film. Peter Jackson is very focused on giving the Hobbit readers a movie that will live up to the book.

That's right, it's being filmed in New Zealand bitches. Might get myself a cameo. I could have if I wanted but it required flying somewhere.