After years of nerdy anticipation, studio wranglings, and director switcheroos, The Hobbit is finally heading to the big screen.
So there's no better time to bone up on your Tolkien trivia, and get the lowdown on the most fantastical, dwarf-riddled and fanboy-pleasing franchise around.
The news that The Hobbit was going to be stretched and adapted into three movies was surprising for many reasons - not least because the book version of The Hobbit totals around 300 pages, while its sequel The Lord of the Rings (also three movies) totals between 1500-2000 pages. Luckily, Tolkien was never one to let his sub-plots go to waste, so we can expect new scenes garnered from The Lord of the Rings' lengthy appendices.
It may not be the most arresting, intimidating or heroic of names, but trust us - once you've experienced the adventures of one Bilbo Baggins, he'll own a special place in your movie memory forever. A brief appearance in The Lord of the Rings positioned him as a grumpy, fleetingly psychotic old codger, but The Hobbit shows a whole other side - with a journey that transforms him from a wary, home comforts-loving, borderline recluse into a wisened, valiant and confident sword-swinging dragon burglar.
The return of some familiar Lord of the Ring faces may be well known by now (see B and L for more), but there are still a host of gobsmacking cameos ensured to titillate. Keep your peepers peeled for appearances from Stephen Fry, Billy Connolly, Evangeline Lilly, Stephen Colbert, and none other than Dame Edna him/herself, Barry Humphries, as the Goblin King.
Thirteen of them to be precise. Thorin Oakenshield, Dwalin, Gloin, Oin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Ori, Nori, Dori, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur may sound like a nursery rhyme gone mad, but underestimate them at your peril. With beards as imposing as their axes, they're a crack crew of warriors on a mission. Imagine Ocean's Eleven by way of Time Bandits, and you're on the right track.
When Hugo Weaving wrapped filming on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, he merrily joked to Peter Jackson that he'd see him on The Hobbit. Fast-forward 11 years, and it's very much a reality, as Weaving's frowny-faced, pointy-eared half-Elf Lord of Rivendell is back - and this time he has a crucial part to play in Bilbo's quest. Plus we'll get to see him interact with Gandalf in a nerd-pleasing bromance for the ages. The Red Skull and Magneto teaming up for a chinwag? Yes please.
Sure, The Hobbit may take place a good 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, but that doesn't mean the world's most famous Hobbit (at least, for now) won't get a look in. Elijah Wood is indeed back to reprise his role of Frodo Baggins, appearing in bookending framing scenes that position the romp as a story passed down by Bilbo to his nephew, shortly before he ventures off on his own bout of Mordor-related mayhem.
Cinema's most bad-ass, magical septuagenarian returns to the movie series that rocketed him into the cinematic stratosphere. Although to be honest, having won countless plaudits for his turn as the twinkly-eyed, brilliantly beardy wizard Gandalf the Grey/White, there was never really any question about anyone other than Ian McKellen donning the face-fuzz and staff.
Peter Jackson has always been one to test cinematic boundaries, and while his commitment to 3D is perhaps expected, his decision to film in 48 frames per second (fps) instead of the normal 24 fps is certainly surprising. Jackson claims that while 24fps has been the norm for the last 90 years, shooting at 48fps will reduce some of the inherent motion blur we've become accustomed to, and provide a better, clearer experience when viewed in 3D. Early test screenings haven't been favourable, but we're holding our judgement until we've seen the finished product in all its controversial glory.
When we're bored, the best our subconscious can muster is half-arsed doodling of clouds. JRR Tolkien however? One afternoon, while listlessly marking summer exams, he took up a pen and spontaneously scribbled those immortal words onto a blank piece of paper, thus triggering a fantastical brainfart that would lead to the creation of Middle Earth, changing his life forever - and the world of literature - forever.
If there was one director whose vision of Middle Earth we'd have been genuinely happy to see, it was Guillermo del Toro. The Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy auteur took the reigns of the project back in 2008, and stayed with the production until 2010, working closely with Jackson, Weta and Warner Bros. to bring the movie to life. However, after countless delays and MGM's stall-inducing financial troubles, del Toro jumped ship, having already written, designed and prepped most of the project. While it's a shame we'll never get to see del Toro's take on the Rings-iverse, at least we have Pacific Rim (big mech suits fighting big monsters) to look forward to.
While all the dwarves impress in their own right, Kili's going to make a noticeable mark for a couple of reasons. One, he's played by UK sci-fi fans' favourite vampire, ex-Being Human star Aiden Turner. Two, he's guaranteed to drive a wave of oestrogen to the cinema. Move over Legolas, and say hello to fantasy's latest (admittedly teeny-tiny) heartthrob.
Ah, the benefits of playing an almost eternally youthful elf. Orlando Bloom is set to reprise his role as everyone's favourite shield-surfing, Loreal-addicted, dwarf-tossing arrow-twanger Legolas, for an appearance that's not even in the original book. All we know is that it won't be a mere cameo, and that he'll appear in a section involving the Elvenking Thrandull.
For a movie and book series that revels in throwing all manner of genres into a thematic smorgasbord (fantasy, romance, horror, drama, homo-erotic road trips, slapstick, comedy etc), a musical slant doesn't immediately spring to mind. But back in 1977, NBC crammed the whole Hobbit saga into one 80 minute cartoon movie, using Tolkien's in-novel songs as a jaunty plot device, and adding a bizarre, semi-anime visual style that - among other things - transformed Gollum into a weird singing frog beast.
While Peter Jackson and Weta worked their cinematic magic to bring Middle Earth to life, The Lord of the Rings wouldn't have been quite so imposing or memorable had it not been for the gorgeous New Zealand backdrop. You'd think that Jackson had mined the country for all its vistas are worth, but the director's determination to introduce new shades and perspectives to the locales to ensure The Hobbit - and the audience - are taken to places they've only ever dreamed of.
We can't deny that when it comes to dwarves, Game of Thrones' Tyrion Lannister has held a very special place in our nerdy hearts. But the arrival of Thorin Oakenshield means he'll have to move over, because there's a new ribald, powerful and gruff uber-dwarf in town. While comparisons to Aragorn will be rife (he's a Dwarf King on a mission to reclaim his birthright - and pretty dashing too), he's a bristlier beast altogether. Sparks will fly - and not just from his sword.
For many, it's pretty inconceivable that anyone other than Peter Jackson could have done The Hobbit the justice it deserved on the big screen. But when he wrapped work on the Oscar-snaffling, box-office gobbling The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he seemed pretty content with standing on the Middle Earth sidelines. When the project started back up, he admitted that he'd steer clear of the director's chair so as not to compete with his previous trilogy. But he always kept a hand in the production process, and so when Guillermo del Toro left the project, he was an obvious replacement. In short, he should never have worried - it's testament to Jackson's vision and passion that not only has he managed to corral most of the original crew and cast (where possible) to return, but early buzz suggests The Hobbit could become every inch the fantasy classic of his first trilogy.
From Jumanji and Harry Potter to Monty Python and Indiana Jones, some of cinema's most entertaining blockbuster moments have come from a good riddle or two. The Hobbit's no exception, with one of its most chilling and notorious moments revolving around Bilbo's first encounter with a certain ring-obsessed Gollum. When Bilbo bumps into the G-man in the Goblin Tunnels, he finds himself in a riddle-off. If he wins? He's shown out of the underground maze alive. If not? His life is forfeit. Motion-capture or not, we can't wait to see Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis go head-to-head in this head-scratcher of a verbal joust.
GEEKGASM ALERT. Because of Sylvester McCoy's appointment as wizard Radagast, somewhere, someone's bizarre Doctor Who-meets-Lord of the Rings fan-fiction just became a reality. Yep, the Seventh Doctor looks set to dazzle in a role as brilliantly bonkers as the great man himself, as Radagast - a hippier, slightly wibblier version of Gandalf. He loves flora, fauna and fluffy, fuzzy animals. Which is lucky, considering his ramshackle hobo appearance comes complete with a fully active and permanently pooping birds nest hat atop his head.
Considering their inherent awesomeness, Hollywood doesn't have the best track record when it comes to memorable movie dragons. But Smaug's set to change all that. Voiced and motion-captured by Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, he's far more than a fire-breathing, angry villain cipher, and guaranteed to put the odd spanner in Bilbo's plans to nab his treasure haul. Weird pop culture bonus fact! In Forbes' 2012 list of the 15 Richest Fictional Characters, he ranked first, with an estimated net worth of $62 billion.
Take a second to imagine Leonard Nimoy's CV. Nestled deep within stints on Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, he boasts a random and largely unknown stint as a Bilbo balladeer. Back in 1968, nestled amongst the track listing for Nimoy's second LP, 'Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy', sits The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, a weird and chintzy number all about Baggins' adventure.
The 'Unexpected Journey' tagline for the first movie could just as well be relating to the saga surrounding the countless aborted and convoluted attempts to get the story up on the big screen. The first motion picture adaptation was commissioned in 1966, and consisted of a series of cartoon stills stitched together. 1977 saw the infamous animated musical version (see M), before Peter Jackson started developing plans to bring The Hobbit to the cinema in the mid-90s. After Jackson's success with The Lord of the Rings, a studio dispute prompted New Line co-founder Robert Shaye to decry that Jackson would never work on another movie for them. Obviously, that didn't last too long.
While EA has had moderate success with their array of hack-em-up/RPG Lord of the Rings video games, their license on the rights expired back in 2008, leaving the playing field open for Warner Bros. Interactive to make their own mark on a digital Middle Earth. There are definitely two free online games that will be released, along with an Xbox Live/Playstation Network multiplayer online battle arena game set in Middle-Earth known as Guardians of Middle-earth. Or you could always opt for the 1982 ZX Spectrum 'classic' - a beast of an adventure at a whopping 48k (even better, you can play it here).
When it comes to the four crucial ingredients needed for The Hobbit to work, Ian McKellen, Peter Jackson and New Zealand are the more obvious choices. But the return of props and visual effects company Weta Digital/Workshop is just as important. Sure, it's the combination of Jackson and Tolkien's vision that brings the world to life, but it's Weta who makes those dreams a reality; crafting, sculpting and CGI-ing all manner of weird and wonderful monsters using make-up and VFX to create the heart-stopping cinematic wonderment the franchise is known for.
Harry Potter and Twilight may have ruled the Christmas roost for the last few years, but with both those franchises (seemingly) dead and buried, there's a blockbuster-sized open goal for any movie franchise wanting to own the filmic festivities. Taking a clever and commercially genius nod from its cinematic heritage, The Hobbit is set to copy The Lord of the Rings' box-office breaking tactics by dominating the Yuletide line-up for the next two years, with prominent, unopposed year-end releases. Plus, it's a story that lends itself to a winter wonderland feel. The snow-capped mountains, the Santa-ish looking wizards, the... erm... Santa's Helpers-ish dwarves.... (sorry).
Considering the legacy he's left behind, it's a fairly universal truth that JRR Tolkien was a dab hand at the old penmanship and storytelling lark. But there was one notable narrative deficiency that's caused a few problems for the production of The Hobbit. Namely, the fact that there's only one female character name-checked throughout the whole of the book (Bilbo's mum, Belladonna Took). Luckily, Jackson's worked his directorly magic to ensure that not only does Cate Blanchett return as Galadriel, but Lost-ette Evangeline Lilly will even get a look-in as a brand new character called Tauriel.
You know it's coming. As if the The Lord of the Ring's Extended Edition movie marathon wasn't crazy enough with a running time of 11 hours and 23 minutes, you just wait until The Hobbit trilogy comes out. Do you reckon you'd be able to withstand the lure of a The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings trilogy double marathon? Place your bets. If you start endurance training right about now, you may have a chance of getting through the whole thing without dozing off.
Source : ign[dot]com
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