Last night saw a special marathon screening of the extended editions of all three Lord of the Rings films at London’s BFI IMAX cinema, which is where where I caught the Avatar Day footage as it happens. I wasn’t present for the Rings overnighter, but some friendly snoops were and they’ve tipped me off as to something very exciting that started the proceedings off with a bang.
Ian McKellen was present in person to intro the screenings, and while he only spoke for a very short time, he managed to get the crowd into something of a frenzy. Not only did he confirm that he’ll be coming back as Gandalf, and is expecting to start work on set in March of next year, he also dropped a bit of a casting bombshell. According to McKellen, the starring role of Bilbo Baggins has been successfully cast already. Not only that, but he knows who has the role and he’s sure that the fans will be very, very pleased. Immediately the crowd started murmuring about James McAvoy, which suggests to me that they haven’t been keeping up on their Slashfilm. Over just the last few days we’ve revealed that he’s signed on for I’m With Cancer and is negotiating for a role in Robert Redford’s Lincoln drama The Conspirator. This isn’t a man with a big Hobbity hole in his calendar, it would seem.
McKellen also revealed that he is expecting his own personal copy of “the script” within the next fortnight. This is most likely, I feel, to be just the script for the first film, dramatizing the first half of Tolkien’s The Hobbit novel. Jackson appears to have made it clear recently that work was drawing to a close on that portion but that they were much further back in developing the second part.
There was an awful lot of gossip and buzz in the audience at the BFI IMAX last night, with some purporting to be in the know and even claiming that Guillermo del Toro has started shooting already. I’ve had lots of this rumour related to me but it all seems flimsy and fabricated, maybe just ‘improbable’ at best. For now I think we’ll just stick with what McKellen was offering and hope that his tease is thwarted soon by an official announcement of the casting.
Ian McKellen as Gandalf is one of the great performances of all-time, not sure why this sent the crowd into a frenzy though. Anyone who's read the Hobbit knows he's only in about 5% of the book so to expect him to be in the majority of either film is just setting yourself up for disappointment.
Ian McKellen as Gandalf is one of the great performances of all-time, not sure why this sent the crowd into a frenzy though. Anyone who's read the Hobbit knows he's only in about 5% of the book so to expect him to be in the majority of either film is just setting yourself up for disappointment.
The news that Bilbo has been cast is what sent them into a frenzy, not him returning. We already knew he was returning.
The news that Bilbo has been cast is what sent them into a frenzy, not him returning. We already knew he was returning.
Fanboys. It would take more than that to excite me, like say movie art or a teaser trailer. I don't think I've been hit by LoTR craze in about 4 years, got it a little bit when I found out LoTR is hitting blu in awhile though.
This is would be a crazy move by Jackson. Is this possible?
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The occasional “take a meeting’ report pops up, and the story is always the same. Movie player A sits down with movie player B in what we assume is some official manner, none of us onlookers really knows why they’re meeting and therefore, wild speculation ensues. They’re interesting stories, I think, and not because a number of them later translate into something more concrete but because a good deal of them don’t. It’s like a tiny tear has opened in space-time and we’ve caught a glimpse at a never-was bizzaro world, a collaboration that never happened.
Movie player A in this case is Tom Cruise and B is Peter Jackson. Is there really nothing else we know about why they might be meeting? Well… not quite nothing.
…but as near as. Here’s a little bit of informed guesswork that brings some knowledge into play. Contribute any additions of your own in the comments.
The big Peter Jackson story of the moment is the continued development of The Hobbit. Could Cruise be looking to play a role in del Toro’s upcoming films? It’s an outside bet, I feel. Extremely outside. For one thing, Guillermo del Toro was not present himself. If we assume for a second that Cruise and Jackson’s business in the meeting was one of Hobbit casting, what character would Cruise be eyeing anyway? The voice of Smaug? The One Ring speculate The Necromancer, a facet of Sauron who is talked of in The Hobbit but doesn’t actually have anything to do. I guess they’re pulling legs.
Jackson is also producing and not directing the Dambusters film. This seems more of an easy match with Cruise’s acting style and perceived persona. Again, though, Christian Rivers was not present and he is, or at least was, the director in charge of the Dambusters. A considerably better fit than the Hobbit, though.
Another film we’d assume Jackson would be producing would be a District 9 sequel. I’m not even going to dignify this lunatic digression with any further discussion. And as for the H word… don’t even dream it.
Perhaps we’ll have more luck looking towards films that Jackson is going to direct and not just produce. The first of these to come to mind is probably the Tintin sequel. Though Jackson has made it clear that scripting on the film has yet to begin, locking down a busy man like Cruise this far ahead of time is probably a good idea. They may have just been kicking around the notion, taking its temperature, seeing if it would be worth Jackson’s time developing the film with Cruise in mind. A possibility. Who would Cruise be playing? I guess that depends on just what Tintin story Jackson has in mind.
Something else we know Jackson is keen on would be a return to his (often low-budget) horror movies. At Comic-Con he all but promised he was going to jump back into the genre. Is Cruise a match for one of those? At least as much as Michael J. Fox was, I guess. Or maybe Cruise isn’t looking to star, but perhaps set the film up at UA? Maybe.
The same is very possibly true of Jackson’s potential adaptation of the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik. A history twisting spin on the Napoleonic era that injects bloody great Dragons into the war, adapting these novels has been back-burner simmered by Jackson for some years now. Perhaps he’s now deciding to move forwards with the project? Perhaps at UA, then, or with Cruise in the cast? For me, this is the specific named project most likely to be true. Indeed, the only thing more likely is that they were meeting about something else entirely, something we don’t yet know a thing about.
Let’s not assume that Jackson was looking to Cruise for a collaborator when there’s every chance it could have been working in the opposite direction. Cruise could have been trying to bring in Jackson on a project he’s got cooking at UA - and if so, that project could be just about anything.
In my opinion if this happens then officially Jackson lost his mind for casting this guy. Just look at him in the picture above. :shurg:
There have been a lot of rumors flying around about the upcoming Guillermo del Toro directed, Peter Jackson produced, two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic book, The Hobbit. Everything from casting rumors - Daniel Radcliffe, David Tennant or James McAvoy to play Bilbo? - to word of a third, “bridge” movie being made the would link the two Hobbit films to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Just as quick as these rumors surface, del Toro himself has been there to dispel them. And that has happened again recently when rumors surfaced that The Hobbit would be in 3D. By way of TheOneRing.net’s forum, del Toro himself has let fans know just what is true and what isn’t, including confirming who will be the Director of Photography for The Hobbit:
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“As a co-writer and director of this film (who works with the design teams, costume teams, creature teams, VFX teams every day of the week), let me be very clear one more time: we are not talking about 3D, we are NOT writing the screenplay for 3D right now- we are hiring my DoP Guillermo Navarro to shoot the film and we are not discussing 3D with him either or with WETA digital or WB or anyone else. That should be a little less sidestepping, I hope.
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If after AVATAR the market may change and demands are put upon us, etc that is in the future. But if such things happen and we start discussing 3D down the line, I’ll let it be know here at TORN because that’s the proper way of doing things. But make no mistake- I’ve been living in NZ for almost a year now and we have not been discussing 3D. When we do, I’ll make sure your source finds out. Thank You, Guillermo.”
On top of labeling the 3D rumors as untrue, del Toro also popped into another part of the forum to deny certain casting rumors that have been floating around (Tom Cruise has even been rumored as a possible Bilbo Baggins, after he made a trip to New Zealand for a meeting with del Toro recently), as well as giving his thoughts (read: praise) about James Cameron’s Avatar:
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“…is dead-on about the imminent conversion of film into an expanding 3-D field - at least in most blockbusters and I know of, at least, 4 or 5 major filmmakers preparing 3D films right now. Some of them seriously artistic and ungimmicky!! I’ve seen AVATAR and I was absolutely blow away by it!! I myself expect to explore 3D soon enough- it is the future, just not my immediate future. And no- neither David Tennant nor Tom Cruise are Bilbo and we are not redesigning Gollum.”
I notice that del Toro leaves Mr. McAvoy out of the discussion. Is it a sign that the actor is in the running, or did it simply slip his mind? Interesting…
I’m really glad that the 3D rumors about The Hobbit have turned out untrue (keeping in line with most of the other rumors about the project). When 3D is used right (i.e. in a non-gimmicky way), it can totally immerse you in the world of the movie, and I’m sure if it WERE to be employed for The Hobbit, that’s exactly what would happen. But I would like these movies to be a proper prequel to the Lord of the Rings series, shot in the same format (and yes, I realize 3D movies can be seen in 2D as well, but the shooting style is often still “3D gimmicky”).
It’s interesting to note that Guillermo Navarro is going to be the Director of Photography for The Hobbit, which will give it a bit of a different look and feel to the LOTR trilogy (which had Andrew Lesnie as the Cinematographer). Navarro has worked with del Toro since the start of his feature-length filmmaking career with Cronos, and has worked on other such projects as Jackie Brown, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn and Spawn.
The script for The Hobbit Parts 1 and 2 is still being worked on, and we’re a long way away from the actual release (well over 2 years), so the amount of rumors and speculation is not only understandable (because of the anticipation for it) but inevitable. Until we get a bit closer to the finished product, we can expect even more of these rumors, and it’s nice to see the director taking time out of his hectic schedule to keep us informed.
What do you think about what del Toro has said? Are you glad The Hobbit movies won’t be in 3D?
Part 1 of The Hobbit is scheduled to hit theaters in December, 2011, with Part 2 following a year later in December, 2012.
Oh so nothing is official??? I thought it was said he had already been cast?? I guess I misread.
"Official" is a tricky word. They may have somebody, but until he's actually gone in, done some readings, and signed on the dotted line, it's not official.
Like with LotR: thank all the gods and whatnot that they changed their minds about that effeminate bozo Stuart Townsend after some reading sessions. If he had played Aragorn, it would have been a disaster, and only a few twelve-year-old girls would have been happy with the result.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpwsKRpKS_M
To fire up everyone for the new movie. That done, I think Bilbo needs to be a good actor this time since other than the 11 dwarves he will have the most screen time in the next two movies. I don't think the barrel scene will be terribly exciting.
Elijah Wood was on Conan the other night but no mention about The Hobbit...obviously, because he won't be in the film but he could have given us a hint lol.
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It would take more than that to excite me, like say movie art or a teaser trailer. I don't think I've been hit by LoTR craze in about 4 years, got it a little bit when I found out LoTR is hitting blu in awhile though. 
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