The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson
 
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December 3 : 2009

More reassurance about The Hobbit

Writing in the message boards at TheOneRing.net, Compa Mighty provides a link to a Missy Schwarz piece on EW, “‘The Hobbit’ production could begin by mid-2010 and casting is moving forward.” There she reassures fans that the delay in production is probably no big deal:

A source for The Hobbit project confirmed to EW that Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and director Guillermo del Toro have finished up the script for the first Hobbit film, “are about to turn in” the script for the second installment, and are “looking at a number of scenarios for start dates,” including sometime in mid-2010. But no one on the creative side is worrying about release dates, according to the source. As always, that’s up to the studio.

As for Jackson’s comments about The Hobbit not having an official greenlight yet, fans shouldn’t read into those, either. There’s no strife between creative and the various studios (New Line, MGM, and Warner Bros.). It’s simply a matter of protocol. Without a finished pair of screenplays and a budget, the filmmakers wouldn’t expect to have a greenlight.

As I keep pointing out, delays happen in Hollywood all the time and for a wide variety of reasons.

Schwarz adds one very interesting piece of news: “On the upside, we could have casting news soon. Talent agents all over town are abuzz with word that casting directors for The Hobbit have been hired in London and L.A.”

I wouldn’t bet on getting news all that soon. There might be an announcement about whom the filmmakers intend to cast in some of the key roles, but like Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis, these people would probably not be under official contract immediately.

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    The Frodo Franchise
    by Kristin Thompson

    US flagbuy at best price

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    Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
    hardcover 978-0-520-24774-1
    421 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 12 color illustrations; 36 b/w illustrations; 1 map; 1 table

    “Once in a lifetime.”
    The phrase comes up over and over from the people who worked on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. The film’s 17 Oscars, record-setting earnings, huge fan base, and hundreds of ancillary products attest to its importance and to the fact that Rings is far more than a film. Its makers seized a crucial moment in Hollywood—the special effects digital revolution plus the rise of “infotainment” and the Internet—to satisfy the trilogy’s fans while fostering a huge new international audience. The resulting franchise of franchises has earned billions of dollars to date with no end in sight.

    Kristin Thompson interviewed 76 people to examine the movie’s scripting and design and the new technologies deployed to produce the films, video games, and DVDs. She demonstrates the impact Rings had on the companies that made it, on the fantasy genre, on New Zealand, and on independent cinema. In fast-paced, compulsively readable prose, she affirms Jackson’s Rings as one the most important films ever made.

    The Frodo Franchise

    cover of Penguin Books’ (NZ) edition of The Frodo Franchise, published September 2007. The tiny subtitle reads: “How ‘The Lord of the Rings’ became a Hollywood blockbuster and put New Zealand on the map.”