Image Credit: Mike Flokis/Getty ImagesWarner Bros., New Line Cinema and MGM have finally officially announced that Peter Jackson will direct J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit with production beginning in February 2011. The film is planned to be divided into two installments and will be shot in 3D. Said Jackson, “Exploring Tolkien’s Middle-earth goes way beyond a normal film-making experience. It’s an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama. We’re looking forward to re-entering this wondrous world with Gandalf and Bilbo – and our friends at New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers and MGM”.
Oct 16
2010
01:10 PM ET
Peter Jackson officially to direct 'The Hobbit'
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FINALLY!
My sentiments exactly, I am glad that Guillermo del Torro is not directing it
The next couple of years are going to be fun with the Hobbit, Batman movie, Superman (if Routh comes back)
Did you not see LOTR?!?! Jackson HATES dwarves. How can he make a film if he hates most of the main characters? There are barely any elves in it so I am sure he will have to invent something for them to do. I would rather they not make Hobbit then have Jackson do it.
Really Kristen, really???
Have you seen Willow? Perhaps the dwarf market can’t provide the actors necisarry to play appropriate dwarfs the way Tolkien wrote them…Should we have Lucas direct instead, as he is over infatuated with small people. Why make a stink over nothing, crazy.
He doesn’t hate dwarves… he hates the way movies portray them, with midgets… he goes out of his way to use normal people in smaller proportions.
@Kristin–what? I am very confused. He will have the dwarves do what the book wrote I am sure since Jackson always pays respect to the work of Tolkien as he should.
@Matt
Uhh..Ron Howard directed Willow, dude.
Lee2, you completely missed Matt’s point by reading one sentence and then stopping…..dude.
“Oh! It’s amazing. I love this!” …SHUT UP! Seriously spammers, go away!!!
As far as the news of Jackson officially directing, I am ELATED! WHOO-HOO!!! That actually IS amazing, and I LOVE it!
oh great… my local cinema better have this in 2D, everyones a bloody sellout nowadays. Instead of grossing 1 billion at the box office they way 2…
Well you know this was going to happen eventually
Quick! Somebody get him a camera before he changes his mind again!
Jackson should have been working on this movie the whole time instead of doing The Lovely Bones. That movie was god awful.
Except for Stanley Tucci
Agreed. And the visuals were beautiful. But it was put together terribly. But then again, I was torn between loving/hating the book anyway.
Very excited for this. Jackson did such a beautiful job with LOTR, I’ve been hoping he would give up on finding a director and just do this one himself.
This just makes me realize that so much time was wasted getting someone else to direct and all that when Peter could have just done it from the start
I’m so glad that Peter Jackson is finally going to be directing the Hobbit. It would have been a crime against humanity if he didn’t. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is amazing so it’s only right that he direct the Hobbit.
YES!!! I just watched an episode of Jersey Shore for the first time…but now after reading this, my faith in humanity is restored!!!!!
The genius store called, theyre runinng out of you.
Yay!
BEST.NEWS.EVER!
Agreed!
I am going to wait in line for it right now.
I screamed and literally jumped out of my seat with joy when I read this. Sooo excited.
Tears are in my eyes. Just so happy.
I wish my brother were still alive to hear this good news and to see all of Tolkien’s books come to life. He would have been thrilled.
He’s in a better place now. Where he is, I doubt he’d care about any of this because it’s all just trivial.
Yea!! He did LOTR right, so I trust him. 3D could be awesome….or could be gimmicky.
Did he? He started straying pretty good on the 2nd and really straying on the 3rd. Denethor did not leap from the top of Minith Tirith on flames.
Actually, I’m glad he did that. A literal translation of the book (think Harry Potter 1 & 2) leaves you thinking, “well, why did I pay to see what I already read?” By contrast, HP3 (and LOTR) differed from the original material in a way that not only makes both versions enjoyable in their own right, but sufficiently different so that you can see the movie and then enjoy the book and be surprised (or vice versa). Jackson took the differences in the mediums (yes, I know, it’s media) and took advantage of them. As for other complaints here about the search for a director and the delay in production, MGM is bankrupt and that is what has been the holdup (same for James Bond, and other properties). It’s not Jackson’s fault…
you know that when peter jackson did the LOTR, he did them that way because he’s a fan of tolkien’s master piece work. those who complain about how they are not close to the book, should realize that if he followed the book to the exact, that the movie would be over 6 hours long on each flim. personaly i love the way he did the LOTR films
lf it’s FILMED in 3D, then it will be more awesome than gimmicky…
Let’s just hope there are no hang-ups with unions, nor any untimely deaths (I’m looking at you Ian McKellan).
OMG that’s just wrong/hilarious!
Yeah, I know. But in all seriousness, it would be catastrophic if Ian McKellan were to pass away suddenly.
Nah, they’ll just hire Michael Gambon to fill in.
It’s terrible, but I was thinking the same thing.
What about the World’s Most Interesting Man from the Dos Equis commercials?
Michael Gambon? Are you kidding? All I ever thought while watching the HP movies was that I wished they had cast Ian McKellan. Gambon is awful.
Did you really mean to make a joke that crass? How horribly misfortunate.
Crass = Creative + Ass. Let’s focus on the creative part, because that was damn funny.
Whew! That is some good news. This is now officially my most looked-forward-to movie!
And all the angels rejoiced! YES!!!!!!!!!
WOO HOO!
why does this have to be in 3d? really. ugh.
If Ian McKellan died, this movie could not go forward.
yes it could, that was part of the greatness of the ensemble cast for LOTR, and they can replicate that for these movies
I doubt Ian Holm will be playing Bilbo, why would it be necessary to have any of the same cast?
Two words: Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon!! Come on! He destroyed the HP movies although he did ok in the 6th one. He would ruin Gandalf just like he ruined Dumbledore!
Finally! Hopefully there will be a non 3D version available for those of us who can’t tolerate 3D
Or who don’t want to pay the upcharge.
why are they gonna ruin it with 3D?
I can’t watch 3D either. Literally, I can’t. So paying extra for something to hurt my one working eye doesn’t make sense.
You really literally cannot. I know it’s not funny that you only have one working eye, but your line, “something to hurt my one working eye” made me laugh.
I don’t like 3d either. I can watch it, I choose not to.
@Angela. Glad I could make you laugh.
Don’t feel sorry for me or anything. I’m not blind, my eyes just don’t work together right so I’ve had monocular vision since birth. I don’t think I’m missing much.
Heather, my youngest son can’t see 3D either. He has perfect vision but his right eye is just a little bit off. I took him to the opthomolgist when he was 3 and he said as long as he can see everything not to worry about it. He doesn’t wear glasses and he doesn’t have any problems seeing things. Just not 3D.
Why are people getting their panties in a bunch? If you don’t like 3D, then watch it in 2D form. I somehow doubt that by the time this movie’s released everything’s going to be in 3D.
If a movie is filmed in 3D, and I watch it in 2D, I find myself noticing shots and camera angles that were obviously designed to take advantage of 3D.
I find these moments distracting, and they prevent me from feeling fully immersed in the story being told.
3D should be left to the Jackasses who understand how gimmicky 3D is.
Hawk, what you say is unfortunately true for most 3D movies, but I have found some of them to not be distracting at all. Two that come to mind are Up and How to Train Your Dragon. I saw no “designed for 3D” scenes in either of these movies, and found that in many scenes, the 3D really helped to heighten the experience. (I wonder how much that might be influenced by the fact that both of these movies have many scenes that take place high up in the sky, where depth really comes into play.) I simply think that as more people get used to 3D, filmmakers will see it as less of a gimmick, and more of just another tool to help make a movie better. One thing I would recommend for any 3D naysayers to try is to find a friend or a store with a 3D TV and watch some sports in 3D. Because it’s live, there are no gimmicks, just a 3D version of what you would normally see. I found the experience very entertaining and viable. Plus, on top of all this, Jackson is a very visual director. I could never imagine him compromising any scene for the sake of 3D.
@RyanK
I agree. 3D can be extremely gimmicky and sometimes it works (I’ve seen more of the former than the latter). How To Train Your Dragon, as you said, didn’t have “made for 3D scenes.” Up didn’t either. And I was grateful for that. Step Up 3D however had a lot. It was very obvious that it was filmed primarily as a 3D movie. I don’t mind the 3D as long as it’s like the 3D in Up and HTTYD. And I’d see the 3D in IMAX – the 3D you find in a standard movie theater doesn’t cut it for me.
Not to be a spoil-sport, but this is old news. Jackson was named director almost 2 weeks ago (and it was announced that the film would be in 3D at that point as well). EW needs to get on the ball with this stuff.
Hey EW, PLEASE hire The Dude! If you do, you will obviously be able to see the future, which will certainly up the readership.