I don’t know about you, but ever since I heard that Peter Jackson would be visiting Middle Earth again in order to create a film adaptation of The Hobbit I have been absolutely giddy. Then I heard that he was going to split it up into two films. The news surprised me since it is a smaller book than any of the three volumes that make up The Lord of the Rings, but I shrugged and was glad that I would be able to spend even more time in this incredible world.
Several days ago a new announcement was made. After looking at all the footage, Jackson decided that there was more of the tale he wanted to tell, so he decided to turn The Hobbit into a three part film series instead of two. I must admit, when I first heard this news I thought it was a bit ridiculous. Jackson was able to take three much longer books and turn them each into one film for The Lord of the Rings, so why does he need three films for The Hobbit?
There has been much debate amongst the fans on whether or not this was a good decision and both sides have valid points. Jackson does seem to genuinely care for this story and he will be using material from some of Tolkein’s work outside of The Hobbit (similar to how Jackson pulled the Aragorn/Arwen love story from the appendices) to flesh it out, but will it be enough to make three good films? I don’t know.
The only thing I am certain of is that, no matter how odd I think this decision may be, I will be in line to see all three of these films when they are released in the theaters. I love the world that Tolkein created and Jackson brought to life, so I will take any chance I have to visit and I will do so with a huge smile.
What do you think about the decision for three movies? Do you trust Jackson and his vision? Will you see any or all of these films? Let me know in the comments.
I’m a little skeptical of Jackson’s move to split “The Hobbit” into three films myself, but if anyone can pull it off, I’m pretty sure that he can!
I personally have never read any of the books, but I did see the three Lord of the Rings movies. I was much too young to truly appreciate the story, but the cinematography alone was enough to satisfy my pre-teen inexperience with true films. My favorite movie as a child was “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and, while hilarious, is not nearly near the scope and magnificence of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Either way, I will most likely see all of the upcoming films. Also Elijah Wood is hot.
It’s a very ambitious project. I think there’s enough material, but 3 movies might be a bit too much. It seems like the pacing would have to really slow down. It’ll be curious to watch.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Hi Jessica,
As for me, I think it makes sense – it all depends what he does with the movie. I can even imagine a short story becoming a 3 movie sequence if it goes to depth of the story rather than just telling it in it’s outline. Thought you might be interested in embedding the following debate in your post:
http://www.opinionstage.com/debates/does_it_make_sense_to_split_the_hobit_book_into_three_movies
Call me cynical but I think its a purely profit driven decision. Mr. Jackson is looking not only at ticket sales but at marketing the DVDs, Blu-Rays, or whatever format is available at the time. They’ll come out individually at first then as a package then as a limited edition package with commentary and a wee photo booklet. Yep, MIddle Earth is a rich land indeed for Mr. Jackson. And, personally, I’ll be there with my money in hand because I do enjoy a good fantasy adventure.
There’s two sides to this coin. On the one, we can assume that Peter Jackson wants to take the time to tell the story well, and as a fan of both Tolkein and Jackson, I appreciate it.
Then again, it is obviously driven by the desire to milk the most money out of a good story. But when you look at the cash investments such an endeavor entails, that is understandable. I think Peter Jackson and crew did such a great job on the LOTR movies, he deserves his earnings, without which, such great movies would not be possible. I for one, do not begrudge him his profit. Just let me see the movies.
I think I would much rather have one movie and read the book again. I think I agree with some of the comments here in that it is a commercial venture looking at merchandise and sales. But then I’m not a big movie goer, I can’t remember the last time I went to the pictures :-/