Jackson drops "The Hobbit" in favor....

WeirdRaptor · **on:** September 24, 2006, 07:59:40 PM

According to a recent interview, Jackson apparently thinks that making the "The Hobbit" isn't good enough, so he's decided to expand the story to turn it more into a straightforward prequel of "the Lord of the Rings" and has no intentions of making it its own story at all. He's treating it like supplementary material for the larger story, instead of the well beloved book and separate story that it actually is.

Great, just great, just when I thought I finally found a filmmaker I could respect he goes and does this.

Personally speaking, I've waited for "The Hobbit" for far too long to have this happen to it.

Here's the Link: Jackson's Crackpot Ideas
Jackson's Crackpot Ideas

Malte279 · **Reply #1 on:** September 25, 2006, 03:06:52 AM

The question is, what exactly would he change? So long I don't know what his statements really mean I'm not going to judge a movie which has not yet even been produced. Making it more like a prequel to the lord of the rings might just mean that he is going to include a little more about the White Council (as I think was spoken up for in another thread). Peter Jackson can really mess up and create movies as bad as his lord of the rings adaptation was good. Yet that one was good enough for me to wait until I hear more concrete details about what he is going to make. I'm not going to take information from a page titled "Jackson's Crackpot ideas" as too objective. If he already messed up there would still be time enough left to complain, but I will wait till then, perhaps to find that he might not mess up.

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #2 on:** September 25, 2006, 05:55:10 AM

But if Jackson does turn "The Hobbit" into "The Lord of the Rings, Episode One: The Necromancer Wars", do you realize that he will have utterly butchered it, right? I think the material is legit. I never thought I'd say this, but I hope Jackson never gets his grubby hands on "The Hobbit". The story is fine as is.

Malte279 · **Reply #3 on:** September 25, 2006, 10:33:40 AM

Quote

But if Jackson does turn "The Hobbit" into "The Lord of the Rings, Episode One: The Necromancer Wars", do you realize that he will have utterly butchered it, right?

Is there a line announcing such a title? I must have overlooked it, for this indeed would be a very bad sign.
While I'm afraid Jackson may well return to his original "genre" (which is certainly not mine) I'm not quite convinced of the credibility of the source. Much can be posted on webpages. I don't have my copy of the lord of the rings at hand (which strips me of the chance for a boastful quote

), but I'm quite sure that at the hight of the battle of Helm's Deep Aragorn tells Theoden not to judge Gandalf's advice before everything is over. I will hold it the same way about Peter Jackson

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #4 on:** September 25, 2006, 04:36:29 PM

I don't need to withhold judgment of Jackson's decisions to tell you that making "The Hobbit" into "The Lord of the Rings 4" is a bad idea.

How would you like to see "The Hobbit" adapted, out of curiousity.

Malte279 · **Reply #5 on:** September 25, 2006, 04:51:42 PM

I would (just like you I suppose) be very much in favor of a Hobbit addaptation that is true to the book and doesn't make major changes about it. Glimpses at characters from the lord of the rings who were probably present on the stages of the Hobbit without playing a major role (Legolas, Arwen, Gimli) would not hurt, if this was all it took to make The Hobbit a "Lord of the Rings 4" (or should that be a Lord of the Rings 1/2?). There is much in The Hobbit which I expect could be presented very impressively. The lake town, Smaug, Beorn, and the battle of the five armies for example; not to mention the treasures Smaug guarded

There are some places and events only vaguely mentioned in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. For some reason I've grown very interested in Dol Guldur, Sauron's fortress in Southern Mirkwood. Perhaps my interest in that stronghold is caused by the very lack of information on it. Nevertheless I suppose that any reference beyond a possible flashback (about how Gandalf was given the map of Erebor) would lead too far from the story.

PS: The Hobbit flashback from the Lord of the Rings deviated from the books. We saw Bilbo find the Ring and hear Gollum noticing its loss almost the same moment. That however was probably just to cut a long story short in the lord of the rings. They wouldn't dare to make such a crucial change in an actual Hobbit movie I hope.

WeirdRaptor · **Reply #6 on:** September 25, 2006, 07:22:22 PM

Yeah, I would they change it to keep true to the book...and then just make anothe rcut of LotR containing an altered flaskback of Bilbo's finding of the Ring.

I don't think they would have to alter anything at all to make it the movie great, personally. In the 1977 animated version, everything that wasn't cut for running time purposes was done word for word and it flowed perfectly. And with a live-action film, they can make it substantially longer.

Nick22 · **Reply #7 on:** September 26, 2006, 09:54:10 AM

I bthink that Jacksdon woulkd do a good job with the Hobbit, affter all this is the prequel to the LOTr, which really made him into a star director. He did such a good job with the trilogy, i'd expect a similar effort filming this film. The film ideally, should be more light-hearted for the most part than the trilogy, like the first innocent scenes of 'Fellowship'. The 1977 film hit all thge right notes, Jackson should familiarize himself with it and try and copy its sucess.