Preciously Close!

Now that the Harry Potter books are complete and it's at least another year before the sixth movie comes out, on top of the fact that Lost doesn't return until February and The X-Files movie is still a ways off, I've had precious little to get truly excited about lately in the world of entertainment.

All that changed when I went through the mail pile yesterday and nearly had a heart attack when I found Gollum and his preciousssss staring back up at me. How could I have forgotten about the possibility of The Hobbit being made into a movie? I only have a framed Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring poster hanging on my wall, a Gollum bobblehead peering out at my TV room and a Gandalf doll that yells "YOU... SHALL NOT... PASS!!!" when I prompt him to do so (about every other day - I love that thing!) - you would think I would have kept on top of any LOTR-related news.



If you're interested in reading Entertainment Weekly's cover story, you can find it here. It delves into the ongoing legal battle between Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema - but the gist of the piece is that the tensions are easing and incredible forces are at play that seem to be moving production of The Hobbit closer to happening. I won't claim to understand what all the fighting has been about or which side is right, but I do know enough to be confident that if New Line thinks that fans will be pleased if The Hobbit gets made WITHOUT Peter Jackson, those peeps are smoking some serious crack. There would be a huge backlash from the vocal and powerful LOTR community - not to mention possible protests from some of the actors they would need to join the cast. Ian McKellen has stated on his own web site that he would want to work with Peter again, if asked to reprise his role as Gandalf. Other actors from the LOTR films who wouldn't even appear in The Hobbit, such as Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), have also spoken out about how Peter Jackson has to be the director if the film finally became a reality: "In their heart of hearts, New Line knows he's ideal."

True nerds can only help that the attention drawn from this latest Entertainment Weekly issue will help move the conciliatory talks along. While I don't love The Hobbit with the same passion I bestow upon the LOTR trilogy, it does have one thing that the other books don't have - a dragon! And you KNOW I love me some dragons!

- e