Peter Jackson fired (quits) LotR prequel & the Hobbit movie

[Minnesota]

Peter Jackson says he has been dumped from two Lord of the Rings movies - The Hobbit and another Rings prequel - by movie studio New Line.

In an email sent to fansite theonering.net, Jackson and partner Fran Walsh said New Line was now "actively looking to hire another filmmaker for both projects".

The email said the demise of the partnership was due to an ongoing lawsuit with New Line over income from the first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring, and a "limited time option" on the rights to make the films.

It said Jackson and Walsh had planned to begin "development and design" on the two new Rings films next year while filming The Lovely Bones, and once the lawsuit had been dealt with.

Jackson apologised to Rings fans, saying he was "very sorry our involvement with The Hobbit has been ended in this way".

"This outcome is not what we anticipated or wanted, but neither do we see any positive value in bitterness and rancor," Jackson said.

"We now have no choice but to let the idea of a film of The Hobbit go and move forward with other projects."

A posting under the email by 'Xoanon' said it felt like "there had been a death in the family" and whoever ended up directing the movies had "big shoes to fill".
Jackson and Walsh's full email http://www.theonering.net/staticnews/1163993546.html

[Tyrant]

  Man, that sucks.

  My first initial reaction is to assume that whoever takes over for Jackson won't be able to pull it off as well, though in fairness, we don't know until we see it. I'm still willing to give him/her a chance at least.

   Anyone else feel the same way?

[Sharktopus]

#@%&! 

[kodiakthejuggler]

Yeah, it's sad that New Line had to end such a lucrative relationship that way.

Big blow to the fans and to Hollywood.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Does it really matter all that much? New Line will probably try and made the film as much like Peter Jackson's films as possible, and the result will come out exactly the same as if Jackson himself had decided to work on the film.

I always thought that Terry Gilliam would do a nice job at directing a live-action adaptation of The Hobbit - to me, he just seems right for the material.

The 1977 TV special is okay, but too ridiculously butchered (in order for it to fit in a two-hour time slot), and the songs are just terrible.

The main thing to remember is that The Hobbit was originally intended as a children's story, so it wouldn't be a good idea to approach it the same way as LOTR (or vice-versa).

[6079SmithW]

That's really hard to believe (not that I'm doubting your sources)- Lord of the Rings was the biggest success New Line's ever had, I'd think they'd be giving Jackson everything short of their family members to keep it going.

Is the prequel just going to be stuff from the Silmarillion? Because from what I recall, there wasn't a lot of specific storytelling in there, just overall historical descriptions.

[Minnesota]

Even though you aren't doubting me, just click the link and you'll see that my source was Peter Jackson (the article was on google news). Basically he is bias and makes New Line out to be the bad guys.

[mrbasehart]

As much as I liked Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, I'd like to see him move on from it.  As Isaac said, Gilliam would be an interesting choice as director, though he's not exactly favoured by the studios.  Jackson's The Lovely Bones should be interesting, too.

[Variety of Cells]

Ha ha.  If Terry Gilliam was the last director on earth, the producer would direct it himself.  There's no way Terry would direct The Hobbit, especially not after Tideland.  And actually I don't think he's right for the project.  All of Terry's films have had a real powerful message, and I just don't see that in The Hobbit.  It's a cool story, but the characters are kinda shallow and it's more just an adventure.  Terry would undoubtedly try and change it, which would upset fans and the studios. 

[6079SmithW]

Ha ha.  If Terry Gilliam was the last director on earth, the producer would direct it himself.  There's no way Terry would direct The Hobbit, especially not after Tideland.  And actually I don't think he's right for the project.  All of Terry's films have had a real powerful message, and I just don't see that in The Hobbit.  It's a cool story, but the characters are kinda shallow and it's more just an adventure.  Terry would undoubtedly try and change it, which would upset fans and the studios. 

I don't know, he can do kids movies (Time Bandits) and stick to a script (12 Monkeys, the Fisher King)- in theory, he might be able to take a fairly simple adventure story and infuse a bit of the Hamster Factor.

In reality, it would probably turn out more like the Brothers Grimm, with Gilliam seeming shackled and the visual leaps just seeming distracting.

[BathTub]

Even though you aren't doubting me, just click the link and you'll see that my source was Peter Jackson (the article was on google news). Basically he is bias and makes New Line out to be the bad guys.

Biased about which part? Newline wanted the lawsuit resolved into The Hobbit contract. PJ and Crew said No. Newline said okay we will get someone else then.

[Minnesota]

Actually my guess is that Peter Jackson wanted "George Lucas" type money and newline isn't willing to cave. Just think of the risk newline took on these films, no other studio would even make 1 or 2 of these and finally they pitch it to new line and they say "lets make a trilogy"... Jackson is probably being greedy, and I'm just speculating when I don't know for sure since the source is bias.

Edit: (as any source in a lawsuit is bias)

[BathTub]

Are you aware of what the lawsuit is about? It's over Newline outsourcing to Newline Merchandising Corp, instead of asking Cheapermerch Corp how much it will cost, Newline pays Newline's bills, less profit for non Newline people. And yes we are talking about huge amounts of money.

George Lucas type money? PJ got into the record books by being the highest paid director for getting 30 million for King Kong. George Lucas pays for his own movies, Fox just distributes them.

[Sharktopus]

As much I'd hate to see anyone besides PJ and company doing The Hobbit (and it's certainly not too late for Pete and New Line to reconcile, by the way), if I were to suggest a new director how about Alfonso Cuaron? He directed the only really good Harry Potter movie so far (in my humble opinion, Prisoner Of Azkaban), after proving to be a fine adult storyteller in his previous work. I've no idea what his feelings on Hobbits are, but this is all just specualtion anyway.

As for a LOTR "prequel" besides The Hobbit, Why? (To make more mucho moolah, of course.) As "unfilmable" as the trilogy had always been considered, The Silmarillion would 100 times more difficult, as there's virtually no through-line plot. At least LOTR had getting the Ring to Mount Doom for a central story. Filming The Silmarillion would be like filming a European history textbook. I could maybe see The Hobbit as two films, though, especially if they were to spend a good chunk of time on Gandalf attending the White Council, which occurred entirely "off screen" in the book.

[6079SmithW]

As for a LOTR "prequel" besides The Hobbit, Why? (To make more mucho moolah, of course.) As "unfilmable" as the trilogy had always been considered, The Silmarillion would 100 times more difficult, as there's virtually no through-line plot. At least LOTR had getting the Ring to Mount Doom for a central plot. Filming The Silmarillion would be like filming a European history textbook. I could maybe see The Hobbit as two films, though, especially if they were to spend a good chunk of time on Gandalf attending the White Council, which occurred entirely "off screen" in the book.

Obviously you couldn't possibly film the whole thing, but you could do a series of shorts- one where that guy cuts the gem from the crown of Mr. Pre-Sauron, and suchlike. Although I don't recall anything else with much of a plot besides that story, and it's pretty much the same plot as Lord of the Rings.