Should there be a hobbit movie [Merged]

[Dark Knight129]

should they have done the hobbit first:confused:

[Rosie Cotton]

You mean should PJ have done The Hobbit, and then done LOTR as a sequel? There's supposedly a little blurb at the begining of LOTR that explains Bilbo's encounter with Gollum (and the story of the last alliance), so I don't think he should have done it just for clarity's sake. But I would like to see a high quality movie version of The Hobbit. Maybe if LOTR makes all the money it's expected to make, PJ will consider doing The Hobbit as a prequal film.

[Orin]

They did do a Hobbit movie for TV. I remember enjoying it when it first came out in 77. Then i rented it Saturday and realised how dreadful it was. Cheesey production from Rankin Bass. Rank was more like it.

[ReadWryt]

Why should they have done the Hobbit first? Do you have any idea what a hard sell to a distributor a live action version of that movie would have been? Lets see ...it's the exciting story of a bunch of guys headed west on an adventure...Nah, at least they will be able to go back and have the financial backing due to the success of these films....ug, did I just use the words Success and These Films in the same breath? Anyways, New Line Cinema only owns the rights to produce The Hobbit and United Artists still owns the rights to distribute it, so it will have to be made at least in a fashion that pleases U.A., and they won't make nearly the profit margin on it that they will off the Lord of the Rings, which they own all aspects of in motion picture form...

[Orin]

They were headed East. Sorry, but it was east.

[ReadWryt]

I DID type West, didn't I? *ROFL* Doh! And I was just saying to the Webmaster yesterday, "Why WOULDN'T it snow in Hobbiton, it's in the North West of Middle-earth!?!". Bonehead Error #609684879685850965...

[Orin]

Hobbiton is in the North West of ME.:D

[Orin]

And ReadWryt, I love the snow applet! Great job!

[Eternal Phoenix]

If done well, The Hobbit would make a nice prequel.

[Eomer Dinmention]

i have to agree with readwryt
if there ever will be a Hobbit Movie then they should have made it before the Lotr movie so alot of people understand

[Charzi]

I think Walter is right, but they have already told a lot of the content of "the hobbit" in the LOtr film :cool:

[The Shad]

I think people would still enjoy the hobbit even thought they know all about it from LOTR.

[Istari]

I would like to see a Hobbit live-action movie. I really would. It sounds like an interesting experiance, and I wonder if the man who played Bilbo in LotR would still be alive. But I think they probably wouldn't make it based on the fact that it's not as action packed as LotR. I mean, not many people except we "true Tolkien fanatics" are willing to go to theaters and watch thirteen dwarfs and a big-footed Hobbit fight off a horde of spiders. I mean, I know dwarfs rule but Thorin and party were OLD! Seriously.

[Orin]

If they were to do a live action Hobbit, I think they would have to change the whol;e tone and character of the book, or else be saddled with a G rating. The Hobbit is a read aloud children's book. how many times are we reminded that Bilbo wished he was back in his safe comfortable hobbit hole, or "yes, I'm afraid trolls really do behave that way".

To do a live action movie, the director would have to make it a serious story, with lot's of spider butt kicking and serious battle scenes. I can live with that, but the tone of the book would have to go.

[chrome_rocknave]

Oh dear....I hope this won't go the way of Star Wars and have the first installment after the last 3 movies.....argh :eek: As much as I love the Hobbit and would like to see it on screen, I don't think it would do well in theaters and I don't think it would be as good after the last three movies.

[Lord Aragorn]

After the heart pounding action and suspense of LotR, I think that many viewers, at least those who haven't read the book would be bored by the movie. Not that The Hobbit is without it's exciting moments but the whole book plays out like a children's book with a lack of the intimacy with the characters. For example, you never get inside the dwarves' heads and have a good idea of what they are thinking. In LotR you get a much clearer view of what going through the various characters minds. This aspect, I believe, would need to be changed or else the film will simply not draw the viewers into the film the way that LotR does.

[Snaga]

I think you would have an interesting dilemma regarding the tone of the film. You could make the Hobbit dark scary and brooding if you wanted to, although the Troll scene would be a challenge. This would not be true to the book, but personally I wouldn't mind that greatly if the story was kept to broadly. If you kept to the child-like tone of the book, I think it would be strange for your average cinema-going punter. (As if we care about that!)

Actually I think the lack of portrayal of characters motivation in the Hobbit would give the film-maker scope to interpret in a way that could be very interesting.

I wonder how many of the dwarves would miraculously become female in a film version?? Lets slay some dragon...

[aemmett]

Both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings have been attempted in animated form, but that was over twenty years ago. Special effects have improved to such a level that LOTR has has now amazed even the most critical of the cinema going public (my step-son for one) and has prompted quite a number of them to actually read Tolkien's works. I believe that an up-to-date film version of The Hobbit would be widely accepted by the majority of people, simply based on the success of LOTR. Admittedly, a story about dwarves and an unwilling hobbit setting out on an adventure is not as compelling as the fight of good against evil, but hey, was The Hobbit ever meant to be anything other than a childrens fairytale?

[Curufinwe]

I rekon they should make a Hobbit movie after Lord of the ring's. It would be a sweet movie.

[ReadWryt]

From Sunday, August 30, 1998
Peter Jackson Answers THE GEEKS!!! 20 Questions About Lord Of The Rings!!!

“for an example..Frodo's adventure reaching Rivendell, Bilbo's HOBBIT story of course, and Aragorn's adventures in his youth.”

PJ: New Line will definitely make The Hobbit if LotR is a success.


http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/lordoftherings2.html

[Grond]

Can someone explain to me why The Hobbit would need to be a dark and adult only film? Some of the greatest movies in the twentieth century were children's movies. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves", "Cinderella", "101 Dalmatians" (in both the animated and live action picture). I think a "Hobbit" adaptation would make a great story and would attract the same audience that saw LOTR.

But that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.

[Curufinwe]

It would be awesome if after bilbo gets knocked out you still get to see the war instead of blacking out with him.

[Earnil]

I read an article at the Dark Horizons website where a line quoted from Phillipa Boyens (screenwriter for LOTR) said that adapting The Hobbit into a feature length movie would be even more difficult than adapting LOTR into 3 movies. Mostly because it follows 14 characters on a long journey.

[Curufinwe]

Make it a 5 or 6 hour movie with an interval half way threw if necessary

[ReadWryt]

Well, that and Jackson would HAVE to make Gloin a dwarvish lass...

[Earnil]

Perhaps they could make it into a two part Mini-series instead.

And then maybe make The Silmarillion into a TV series.

[Curufinwe]

Silmarillion is the only hing that will probably last without being made into another form of medium. And it must stay that way for we still need somthing that is going to stay in our imagination.

[Eonwe]

ok I can't resist

I would actually like to see PJ make the Hobbit movie. I would go see it.

...starring Dom Deluise as Bombur, with a special appearance by Rachel Welch as Smaug the dragon!

[Curufinwe]

Yeah and that guy who does Hagrad in the Harry Potter movie as Beorn, but knowing P Jackson he'll probably cut Beorn right out of it like tom bombadil.

[ReadWryt]

Bahahahaahahahahah! Silmarillion as a Mini-Series! *ROFL* Yeah, like I want someone to not only dumb down the thing for Television, but to also try their hand at writing THAT much dialog from scratch and assume they are doing as well as Tolkien. Bahahaha

[Earnil]

Well perhaps something like a narrator instead. Afterall The Silmarillion is written from the point of a narrator or something like that.

[Curufinwe]

It would sound too much like a documentrary. And whom would narrate?

[Earnil]

Well a few of the stories from The Silmarillion were told in detail in Unfinished Tales, including speaking parts. And there is already quite alot of speech in The Silmarillion, it is just a matter of adding a bit extra to make it seem more easy to understand.

And sometimes use narration, for example, at the beginning of The Silmarillion before any characters are introduced just have a bit of narration explaining how Arda came into existence.

I think it could work quite well.

[WarriorMay]

There should have been a "Hobbit" movie. I think that it would make more sense to do that because then people who haven't read the book could understand it better. But, in the LotR movie, they kinda have an introduction.

[Orin]

I just got to thinking that the Lord of the Rings might have been better presented on Television as a mini series. Don't laugh. Television today can do as much wonderful stuff as a feature film. More time could be devoted to the Rings than in a three hour chunk in a feature film. I realise this is off topic, but think of the possibilities.......

[Grond]

Orin, your post is not off topic at all... but apparently you have jumped in and posted on a thread without reading said thread.

If you'll look back a few posts, you'll see your suggestions has already been discussed/ridiculed. (And not by me.):)

[andromeda]

i think it was smart of them to to FOTR first. this way it builds suspense. and more people will go to see the next two. the more people see it, the more money it makes, the more money it makes, the closer it brings them to making a film on "The Hobbit"

[ReadWryt]

And here, once more, is where I come in and explain as briefly as possible why it was impossible from a business sense for them to make "The Hobbit" into a movie first, as I have done before a before in this thread ( http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=19089#post19089 ), and numerous times on the forum.

Peter Jackson had to go a great way to convince Miramax that his two film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was worthy of spending money on...they cut it to one movie and he (Jackson) shopped it to New Line (Warner Brothers) who took the gamble because they could buy the Movie Rights AND Distribution Rights. If you don't own the Distribution Rights you get less then half of what the movie makes outside of the US. United Artists owns the Distribution Rights for The Hobbit, ergo if one were risking making a big budget fantasy film (See Krull and Dungeons and Dragons for what the industry thinks of when you pitch this. Neither made much at the Box Office to speak of) and investing millions to see it hit the screen, one would want to be certain that they made their money back and then some, and that means getting ALL the money.

[Glory]

I think they should make a movie of all the books :)

[Greenleaf]

I agree with Glory, but it would have to be done right.

[Beleg Strongbow]

Originally posted by Curufinwe
It would sound too much like a documentrary. And whom would narrate?



I would certantily like to watch it but... Who would if you haven't read the book. It would be a little hard 2 follow and extremely hard 2 make.

[ssgrif]

I think it would be dificult to make as it would end up more of a childish movie as this is how the book was written.

If they made "changes" to make it more appealing to adults, then you'd only annoy the die-hard Tolkien fans. No win situation...

Who knows, maybe PJ wants to do the same as Lucus. Prequels are pretty popular these days.

[Beleg Strongbow]

I would like 2 see the movie but would others also. The guys that made lotr don't have the rights 2 the hobbit as well. Christopher i beleive sold the right of lotr because he thought it couldn't be made cause of the latest developments it could. It was sold a while ago and for not that much.Now after the succsess of lotr he might want to sell it or he might not. Either way it would cost a lot.

[ssgrif]

I think whether you like the idea or not, a film of the Hobbit will be made sooner or later. To me, I would guess that maybe after say 5 or 6 years, once we've all seen all three movies, Peter Jackson will do a George Lucus on us and release the Hobbit as a prequel.

If PJ doesnt get there first, then someone else will. To tell you the truth, I cant see which parts of the storyline cannot yet be done with CG, do you?

Smaug, the spiders in Mirkwood etc can already be achieved...

[Jago]

Actually it is not a childrens story what so ever and JRRT wrote it for his kids but then adapted more into it. The 1977 Hobbit movie was made for kids which was wrong the director obviously didn't read the book to understand this. It is not a kids book kids are afraid of Dragons, Trolls, spiders, Huger spiders for that matter, creepy woods, wolves,and orcs. The list goes on my friends. And I also no for a fact that they are making a Hobbit movie after all the 3 LOTRs installments as the prequel with I think is better:D

[Beleg Strongbow]

Originally posted by Jago
Actually it is not a childrens story what so ever and JRRT wrote it for his kids but then adapted more into it. The 1977 Hobbit movie was made for kids which was wrong the director obviously didn't read the book to understand this. It is not a kids book kids are afraid of Dragons, Trolls, spiders, Huger spiders for that matter, creepy woods, wolves,and orcs. The list goes on my friends. And I also no for a fact that they are making a Hobbit movie after all the 3 LOTRs installments as the prequel with I think is better:D


I thought so 2. This needs to be more mature if it wants to spark interest.

[ssgrif]

I think it would be a great idea, if they release the Hobbit as a prequel. I think that the Hobbit is a really great book, for children and adults alike. Its a classic fantasy tale. I suppose my previous comments about the book being "childish" were incorrect. The book original concept by JRRT was for children (his kiddies) but in actual fact it turned out to be something quite different.

[Snaga]

I read this recently that is a slightly different story from what we've heard before, although not a total contradiction.

Originally from Dreamwatch Magazine, March 2002
Is Peter Jackson working on the prequel or sequel to the trilogy?
[Elijah Wood responds]No. That will never happen. I have asked him because I think all of us were quite curious as to whether that would end up happening, but I think he's far too exhausted to even dream of doing another Tolkien film. Its been a lot of work. I think its probably the most ambitious and difficult project that anyone can imagine to do. I don't think you'll see it from him, although I am sure there's a lot of people that have worked on the film who would be interested in making more. We'll have to wait and see.

[ssgrif]

I dont feel that Elijah Wood's comments hold much weight on the topic of the Hobbit as a prequel to LOTR. He's not going to be involved in the film even if it does reach the silver screen.

I still feel that its destined to become a movie, as was the LOTR. Especially now that LOTR exists as a movie. I'd love to get hold of some evidence to support my theory, but I would expect a fair number of years to pass before we see anything like The Hobbit in the cinema's.

Just look at how long it took George Lucus to get off his behind and take on the first 3 prequels to Star Wars! (ok, he had to wait for technology to catch up but...)


:)

[Snaga]

I think EW is saying if there is a prequel, PJ won't be directing.

I can't see NLC turning down a sure-fire money-spinner though. Now LotR is a financial success, I think the Hobbit is destined to happen too.

[baraka]

Then i rented it Saturday and realised how dreadful it was
Hey, it was not that bad, considering that it was a "kids" movie. I really liked the way they portrayed Gollum, although his eyes were too big.:)
I think EW is saying if there is a prequel, PJ won't be directing I can live with that.:)

[jks13]

I think they should have had the Hobbit first cause i heard that people who had'nt read the book got confused:o

[LadyGaladriel]

I would love to see the hobbit as a movie!
It was the first fantasy i ever read and i love it!

[Orome]

In a word, yes. It should be made into a movie. Hopefully that will be done someday and will be done well in a way all ages can enjoy.

[LadyGaladriel]

I would love to see how plays good old Thorin and Co!

[Orome]

Sounds great! Show me the ticket line. I'm ready.

[darkknight-nyc]

Hello Everyone and Fellow Dark Knight,

I would love to see The Hobbit made into a movie as a prequel. To see the battle of 5 armies and Smaug. Another possible blockbuster for NLC/WB.

[ssgrif]

Lets hope they get their act together and get the Hobbit out and released in good time. The last thing you would want, if they decided to release it as a prequel movie, is to have someone else playing the parts of Bilbo and indeed Gandalf!

These fine british actors aren't that young you know! Lets hope Ian McKellen and Ian Holm are still around to work on it, and make it a great piece of work!

[ReadWryt]

JKS,

They couldn't feasably make The Hobbit first. I mention the reasons at the beginning of this thread...

http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=19089#post19089

Just look at how long it took George Lucus to get off his behind and take on the first 3 prequels to Star Wars! (ok, he had to wait for technology to catch up but...)

Actually, it wasn't as much about the Technology as it was the Rights to characters (The Droids, Yoda, Obi Wan and Anakin) and other factors involved in the finances wrapped up in the sad divorce of George and Marcia Lucas, as well as certain contractual obligations. Also, according to the story George has been telling for years, there is only 1 trillogy of prequels, the last three movies will be sequels (7, 8 and 9).

[Úlairi]

The Hobbit would make a fantastic movie, but is there any real need to bring it to the silver screen??? Yes, it would most probabnly be a financial success just LoTR, but it may confuse those who have seen LoTR the movie and then go and see The Hobbit, and then it would not be as much of a financial success!!!

[Rohansangel]

No one, in fact, seems to want to make a movie of The Hobbit. Quite sad actually. But the only good one I've seen is the Japanese-animated one, and even that wasn't so great. But it's the best I've seen. There was a good tape of it out, and I have it. But unfortuanately it's ancient and I don't want to risk killing it.
Had PJ done The Hobbit I'm sure it would have been really good. But maybe he'll do it if all the LotR movies are hits. That would be cool.

[isilior]

Has anyone seen the cartoon animation of The Hobbit? I thought it was okay, but I guess I was expecting more. It would be really great if someone took on The Hobbit and made it into a real cinema movie, like LotR. I don't know if the content in The Hobbit is suitable for a cinema movie, but I'd still like to see it done. I mean, The Hobbit itself is a great book, isn't it?

[Gamil Zirak]

I've seen the cartoon. It is really lacking in a lot of areas. It was definately made as a childrens story. I would love to see The Hobbit turned into a motion picture. I've heard that if the LoTR trilogy makes enough money Peter Jackson and New Line are going to film the missing parts of the LoTR and eventually make The Hobbit. I think there might be a problem because New Line owns the movie rights to the film, but another company owns the distribution rights.

[isilior]

Hmm...I don't quite get it. You mean to say that if LotR makes enough money, and Peter Jackson and New Line accomplish the missing parts of LotR and The Hobbit, they won't be able to put it out in theaters and such because the distribution rights aren't theirs? (whoa, sorry, major run-on sentence).

That would be terrible! Something like a Little Mermaid II; straight to home video. Eeeek, then Peter Jackson will never do that because he would rather have the fans watch it the way it should be: on the big screen. Isn't that why he didn't want to have the TT trailer anywhere but on the big screen, but he had to give in anyway?

Oooo...I hope they film The Hobbit!!! *crosses fingers and prays*

[Gamil Zirak]

I posted a question about this a while back and ReadWyrt posted the following answer:

Ok, once more ReadWryt explains the way that things are...

Peter Jackson indeed owns the rights to the Film Adaptation of "The Hobbit". The problem is that the Distribution Rights belong to United Artists still. This will not change right away, and since Warner is distributing LotR they are making the bulk of the box office off the film, which explains why they greenlighted the project for such a huge budget in the first place. If you own the Distribution Rights AND the studio making the movie, you have a better chance of making back what you spent on the film. New Line was, to a degree, gambling with Warner Brothers money in making this movie. Warner was not willing to take such a gamble with a project they could not own the Distribution Rights on, and so Jackson says that he would like, once LotR is done and has been screened, to make a Hobbit Movie as it would have built in selling power after the buzz from the other three movies.

You can also read the entire thread at http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1349

I hope this helps.

[isilior]

Legal things and money business are so confusing, but the thread helps very much! Thanks! :)

[ReadWryt]

It warms my heart to see that my inconsequential ramblings are being used for good...:)

[Rohansangel]

I saw the cartoon and it was very cute. But I guess I expected a lot more -- The Hobbit is too great a book to be ignored while LotR gets all the fame from the movies. The Hobbit should definitely be made a motion picture. Maybe PJ could do that after LotR if those are huge successes...?

~The Angel of Rohan

[isilior]

Yes, ReadWryt, the post was very helpful! I think it's really great that members can pull up previous posts and use the quote function, instead of reading every single message from the beginning of time...

You know what would be even better? You notice that a lot of the singing aspects of Tolkien's tales have been left out of cinema motion pictures. It would be really neat to see the song the dwarves sing to Bilbo, you know, with the plates and such. LoL :p And later on, it'd be nice to watch them get all stuffed up in barrels! Yes, The Hobbit should certainly be made into a cinema motion picture and it definitely deserves it, too!

[Rohansangel]

Go Hobbit!!!!!!

[Ice Man]

I think that there should also be a whole new batch of cartoon movies about the Hobbit and about LOTR. There would be 1 cartoon-movie for the Hobbit, and six for the entire LOTR.

I'm sure they would be very good, if made by the right people.

[Úlairi]

I have actually heard that PJ is considering making a Hobbit movie after 'The Lord of the Rings Trilogy'. I hope he does.

[Ice Man]

Originally posted by Confusticated
Arcanjo, I agree.
In fact I aim to make an animated version of the Hobbit once I have the skill to do so. I live to animate, although I dont have much experience yet since I don't have any software for it. But when I am ready I aim to put the Hobbit before many of my own ideas for animated movies. The reason I plan to do the Hobbit before attempting the Lord of the Rings: the story is shorter, less battle scenes,just plain easier to animate, and I have a better knowledge of that story. But, I must say that The Lord of The Rings is my ultimate goal. The Hobbit will be somewhat of a practice. Of course my version wont be available to the general public because of copyright laws and whatnot. I am going to do this for myself. I have no idea how well this will turn out but i will put everything into it. Taking special care to find people with the right voices. And specializing in amazing backgrounds, because for me, at this point backgrounds are what I am best at, they're easier to do. And I've had a lot of experience doing them on paper. Animation is what i look forward to most in life, and i think that when the time comes, my version of the Hobbit and perhaps Lord of the rings (if i have the ability to make it well) will be the greatest acheivments of my life. Even though it will not be viewed by many.

Wow, it must be really a challenge to do so, but the rewards must surely be fantastic! Keep us at the forums updated with your progress. :)

PS: must I say that I wish you the best luck of all in the enterprise?

[ReadWryt]

Quite sad actually. But the only good one I've seen is the Japanese-animated one, and even that wasn't so great.

Someone needs to point me to a link about this Japanese-animated version of The Hobbit...I had no idea such a thing exsisted...

[Úlairi]

Me neither. Please show ReadWryt and I guys!

[Úlairi]

I'm Australian so therefore Wal-mart doesn't ring any bells.

[Dûndorer]

what does he wanna turn this into star wars?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Beleg Strongbow]

Yes same all i know is some rich guy owns it. I think there should be a movie.

[Úlairi]

Perhaps someone could give me a brief overview of Wal-mart?

[Grond]

Wal-Mart is just your run of the mill, capitalistic huge discount store that goes into communities big and small, lowers prices to the point that no one can afford to compete. This, in turn, drives all of the competition out of business and then the Wal-Mart juggernaut raises the prices and reaps huge profits.

You can check them out at www.walmart.com. :)

[Úlairi]

Originally posted by Grond
Wal-Mart is just your run of the mill, capitalistic huge discount store that goes into communities big and small, lowers prices to the point that no one can afford to compete. This, in turn, drives all of the competition out of business and then the Wal-Mart juggernaut raises the prices and reaps huge profits.

You can check them out at www.walmart.com. :)

Thankyou Grond, sounds like the big supermarket chains that we have over here such as Coles, Bi-Lo and others like Myers etc.

[Beleg Strongbow]

Yes they do lokk similar don't they. Walmart is just probably bigger. Not fair what they do to the other "littler" buisnesses is it?

[Úlairi]

Beleg, what do you think would be the largest supermarket/business chain in Australia? I know that Myers is called Grace Brothers over in Sydney, but there are bigger chains than that. What do you think?

[Elias]

I guess the cartoon was made for childrens. I have seen the start of the cartoon and I think that it was Okay after all!

[Grond]

Originally posted by Ulairi
Beleg, what do you think would be the largest supermarket/business chain in Australia? I know that Myers is called Grace Brothers over in Sydney, but there are bigger chains than that. What do you think? So we've moved from where one can buy the CD/DVDs of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to store size in Australia. Now that is a real Tolkien oriented topic. :(

[Úlairi]

Originally posted by Grond
So we've moved from where one can buy the CD/DVDs of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to store size in Australia. Now that is a real Tolkien oriented topic. :(

Grond, face it, the thread has well...died. Most people have given their opinions and of course, the outcome would be inevitable as soon as soon as Dark Knight129 posted this thread. Yes! There should be a hobbit movie. I believe that that question has been answered only 70 times! Therefore, in an attempt to keep the thread going I changed the topic to a dull one I admit, but it would get a few posters to post in it. You did!

[Stranger]

Hi, I'm new, but I'll jump right in.

It would be great if PJ made The Hobbit, but they should should make it more light-hearted than LOTR. Maybe a little more for kids like the book. Of course not as childish as the cartoon though. I'm thinking maybe something kind of like Dragonheart, where it was kind of for kids but still sorta serious and fairly violent at parts.


As far as the cartoon, I grew up with that. It was one of the few cool fantasy cartoons that were around (that and Gummi Bears :) )
And I think they did a good job of it for being kids movie.

[taylorstaten1]

they did do a pretty good job clarifying what happened, but if i didn't read the book first, i would have been a little confused

[Úlairi]

Read as much on Tolkien as you can, it is very rewarding.

[Eledhwen]

My interest in this poll is personal. I am currently about a third of my way through a first draft of a screenplay for The Hobbit.
The first thing I noticed when beginning this work is that much of the book is dialogue, with very little real action. And, as many contributors have pointed out - ther are no females! At least PJ had Arwen in the story already - all he had to do was have her pop up in a few more places. It is my intention to convert the story into a screenplay that adults could watch - particularly non-readers whose only contact with Tolkien's work is through PJ's films. I live in England, so will have trouble getting anyone in LA to take my work seriously enough even to read it, but I'm not letting that stop me. Incidentally, I see no reason why a screenplay cannot be written for the Silmarillion. The key would be to find some characters (probably Elves. Baddies don't count) whose stories run through the whole, or most of the first age. Even The Hobbit managed to include swords from Gondolin. Find the continuity and you've got your story!

[Mrs. Baggins]

Should I read the Silmarillion?

[Eledhwen]

A good question, Mrs Baggins! The Silmarillion is not a novel as such. It began as an idea in the trenches of the Battle of the Somme in WW1 and was continually added to and amended throughout the rest of JRRT's life. In format, it's a bit like reading the Old Testament - some parts have dialogue and are easy to read; others are more like those parts that consist mainly of genealogies. Having said that, If you want to really enrich your understanding of LotR, then read the Silmarillion. If you then re-read LotR you will find that many of the obscure references to people and places that previously meant nothing will fill the whole tale with a rich history. I would also recommend, after reading The Silmarillion, that you read Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth by JRRT, which gives satisfying accounts of stories only alluded to in LotR etc. (eg: How Tuor got to Gondolin, how Gandalf and the Dwarves came together to call at Bag End in The Hobbit, and how the Black Riders found out about the Shire and Bag End). Both these books, compiled from his father's notes by Christopher Tolkien, are well annotated and usefully indexed.

[ReadWryt]

I think your biggest problem in shopping a script of "The Hobbit" around will be that Jackson and his wife are both Screenplay Writers and since he is already making LotR he will most likely be the first choice for making The Hobbit, and so he and his wife will most likely want to write the sceenplay, if they have not begun to do so in advance...

[Eledhwen]

Thank you for your comment. I was aware that PJ co-wrote the LotR screenplays. Selling my work isn't my main concern, writing it is. Though, when I've done all that work it would be silly not to try! I'm really enjoying the process of turning levity into gravity and changing the emphasis from dialogue to action, but without losing the original story. I'll let you know if I think I've managed it.

[ReadWryt]

Good for you! At the very least you might end up with a work that can show your abilities for transcribing literature into screenplay form...:)

[Theoden]

I think they would have to change alot for it to be anywhere as popular as LotR. And that would be sad because The Hobbit is such a sweet book... I would not want to see it ruined, and there is always that danger when converting a book into a movie. So, my answer is yes and no.

[ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

i think LOTR is better than the hobbit but i think The hobbit movie would be gud

[Samwise_hero]

I reckon PJ should make a movie of 'The Hobbit' it would be so awesome to have them both on screen.

[Úlairi]

People are saying that PJ is making 'The Hobbit' and people are also saying that he isn't. What to believe?

[Gary Gamgee]

The battle of the five armies would look so good can you imagine hords of orcs riding werewolves coming over the hills awesome. I think he definetly should do it.