The Hobbit

Three weeks ago I was up late talking to a friend, which is not rare, and I was physically gesturing with my hands and body, again which is not rare, and anyone standing outside my house looking in might have thought that this passionate display of emotion had something to do with the person I was speaking to: Maybe I was yelling at him for something. My whole demeanor was angry and violent. What I was angry about however was not anything he had done, in fact people might argue I had no real reason to be angry at all, for what I was fuming at was the fact that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema's could not work their stuff out in court and thus they were not going to make The Hobbit.

"They are so dumb." I said, "The make the best trilogy in human history, LOTR (sorry Star Wars fans but you know its true!), and now they have an opportunity to keep it going and they are in court battling over a puny 40 million dollars! Come on I want to see another good movie because most of what Hollywood is creating these days is, well, not very good at all!" The news that they were not going to join together to make the movie upset me and has kept me upset for the last year. New Line actually started looking for a different director (they were looking at Spider-man director Sam Raimi--ugghh! Spider-man 3 was horrific!). Anyway as Erin and I packed late into the night before flying to Toronto this week a friend called at 12.45 at night. He said "Sorry to call so late but I have big news for you: Peter Jackson is making The Hobbit" I was speechless. The Hobbit: finally!

My only thing now is that he has not signed on for director, only writer/producer which is still great but he needs to direct it. He has scheduling issues because he is making two other films; and they want them releases by 2010 and 2011 (did I mention they are making two films?). My issue is that there needs to be strict continuity with the Lord of the Rings. If he can create that with producing it fine; but I say shelve the other project and focus on The Hobbit.

Here is the story as it ran in TIME:
Bilbo Baggins is finally progressing on his most fraught journey — landing a leading role on the big screen. After three years of legal wrangling and public sniping, director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached an agreement to make J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings blockbuster trilogy that made nearly $3 billion at the box office and earned 17 Oscars. The Hobbit is Tolkien's most accessible and popular book, a fairy tale about the reluctant adventurer Baggins, who embarks on a trip with 13 dwarves and the wizard Gandalf.

Jackson, who directed the Rings trilogy and inherited creative stewardship of Tolkien's massive fan base, will serve as executive producer for The Hobbit with his wife, Fran Walsh. A director and screenwriter will be chosen in the New Year, when Jackson and Walsh meet with the studio heads. MGM, which owns the distribution rights to The Hobbit, will co-finance and co-distribute.

The reconciliation between Jackson and New Line was set in motion when Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, co-chairman and co-CEOs of the studio, approached Jackson's agent at the Cannes Film Festival in May. "We said, 'Let's get past the acrimony that's been created by each of us and the rest of our clans,'" says Shaye. "Let's talk about something productive and creative."

After the resounding critical and commercial success of Rings, relations between Jackson and New Line should have been rosy — studio and director each deserved credit for the other's good fortune. But the partnership soured over disputes about New Line's accounting for that fortune. In 2005, Jackson sued, claiming that New Line committed fraud in its handling of the revenues generated by 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring, underpaying him by millions. As Jackson and New Line's lawyers and accountants tangled over paper, the director and Shaye engaged in a bitter battle via the Web.

Last November, when Shaye told Jackson he was looking for other directors for The Hobbit,The Hobbit. This was a courtesy call to let us know that the studio was now actively looking to hire another filmmaker." In December Harry Sloan, chairman and CEO of MGM, invited Jackson and Walsh over for dinner and heard Jackson's vision for The Hobbit. Yet Shaye was still bitter, telling the Sci Fi Wire website in January, "I don't care about Peter Jackson anymore. He thinks that we owe him something after we've paid him over a quarter of a billion dollars!" Jackson posted on the fan site The OneRing.Net, "[We were told] that New Line would no longer be requiring our services on The Hobbit. This was a courtesy call to let us know that the studio was now actively looking to hire another filmmaker."

Sometime between making that bold statement and Cannes, Shaye softened his stance. "Each of the respective sides looked at our confidantes, wives, etc. and said, 'This is really getting out of control,'" says Shaye. "Maybe it's worth a voice-to-voice conversation instead of letting a bunch of lawyers and intermediaries get in the middle and muck things up."

New Line's tough last couple of years at the box office has also magnified the studio's need for a sure hit like The Hobbit. Shaye and Lynne's latest attempt to recreate the box office magic of Rings, the fantasy adaptation The Golden Compass, underperformed, with $25 million at the box office its opening weekend.

Jackson delivered his stamp of approval in a statement: "I'm very pleased that we've been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth."

Principal photography on The Hobbit has been tentatively set to start in 2009, with the goal of releasing the film in 2010. And Jackson and Walsh have already come up with the plan for a sequel — a film that would link the conclusion of with the start of The Fellowship of the Ring. Expect that one in 2011.