Monday, July 30, 2012

The Hobbit Trilogy


Earlier today I found out that Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings and the upcoming Hobbit double feature, is going to be extending The Hobbit duel movies into a trilogy, which of course sent me into a fit of nerd hysteria! I've been an amateur Tolkienite since I first stepped into Middle-Earth when I was twelve years old and have since read the whole collection twice and soon to be thrice. So when I heard that Jackson was finally given the green light to start work on a Hobbit movie, I was overjoyed; even more so when I found out that it was going to be a two part series. However, even with two movies based on one book, I was already calculating in my mind how much was going to be left out or squeezed to fit it all in. For instance, trying to envision the mid-point where the first movie would end and the second would begin was difficult to picture. Would it be at the house of Beorn, or the escape from the elf-kings' hall?
 Now that we know there will be a third installment, here's how I believe the trilogy will flow: The first movie will end when the eagles save Bilbo and the crew from the worgs & goblins and deliver them to the Carrock. The second will pick up with the introduction of Beorn and with the departure of Gandalf from the company. Now Peter Jackson has said that there is going to be more emphasis on Gandalf & the White Council's battle against the Necromancer, so a good chunk of the second show will revolve, not just on Bilbo and the dwarves marching through the dusky veils of Mirkwood, but also on the former, less mentioned, yet just as important event Gandalf takes part in. The end of the second will be when Bilbo busts the dwarves out of the fortress of the elf-king via barrels. Then finally the third and final movie will pick up outside Esgaroth, the Lake-Town.
For those who believe that turning it into a trilogy was all about the money, you are probably only half right. Of course the film corps that are funding the movies are in it mostly for the money, but it was Peter Jackson himself who asked Newline Cinema, MGM Pictures and Warner Bros. Studios if he could extend and make a third. According to a couple of different articles I read on the subject, Peter Jackson wants to add Hobbit lore written by Tolkien that wasn't added into the published book, such as added lore concerning the dwarves of Erebor, not only the fall but the rise of the Necromancer in Mirkwood, the battle of Dol Guldur and more.

No matter which way you look at it, a Hobbit trilogy is a good thing. If it was Peter Jackson who came up with the idea, is basing completely on Tolkien's writings and enlarges the mythos of Middle-earth, the only thing that could possibly surpass this in sheer awesomeness would be. . . A SIX PART SILMARILLION SERIES! OH YEAH!!!!