{"id":1193,"date":"2007-12-18T21:48:21","date_gmt":"2007-12-18T20:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/archives\/2007\/12\/18\/peter-jackson-and-new-line-will-produce-the-hobbit\/"},"modified":"2007-12-19T09:16:01","modified_gmt":"2007-12-19T08:16:01","slug":"peter-jackson-and-new-line-will-produce-the-hobbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2007\/12\/18\/peter-jackson-and-new-line-will-produce-the-hobbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Jackson and New Line will produce The Hobbit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Peter<\/a>After their recent legal dispute<\/a> Peter Jackson<\/a> and New Line Cinema<\/a> have decided to bury their differences and team up to produce a feature length film of The Hobbit<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here is the official press release from The OneRing.net<\/a>:<\/p>\n

December 18, 2007<\/p>\n

ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER PETER JACKSON AND NEW LINE CINEMA JOIN WITH MGM TO PRODUCE \u201cTHE HOBBIT,\u201d EAGERLY-ANTICIPATED FANTASY ADVENTURE EPIC<\/p>\n

NEW LINE AND MGM TO CO-PRODUCE AND SHARE WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS<\/p>\n

PETER JACKSON AND FRAN WALSH TO EXECUTIVE PRODUCE TWO FILMS BASED ON \u201cTHE HOBBIT\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles, CA (Tuesday, December 18, 2007) Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson; Harry Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM); Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of New Line Cinema have jointly announced today that they have entered into the following series of agreements:<\/p>\n

* MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute two films, \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d and a sequel to \u201cThe Hobbit.\u201d New Line will distribute in North America and MGM will distribute internationally.<\/p>\n

* Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on \u201cThe Hobbit.\u201d New Line will manage the production of the films, which will be shot simultaneously.<\/p>\n

* Peter Jackson and New Line have settled all litigation relating to the \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d (LOTR) Trilogy.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Said Peter Jackson, \u201cI\u2019m very pleased that we\u2019ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. \u2018The Lord of the Rings\u2019 is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter Jackson has proven himself as the filmmaker who can bring the extraordinary imagination of Tolkien to life and we full heartedly agree with the fans worldwide who know he should be making \u2018The Hobbit,\u2019\u201d said Sloan, MGM\u2019s Chairman and CEO. \u201cNow that we are all in agreement on \u2018The Hobbit,\u2019 we can focus on assembling the production team that will capture this phenomenal tale on film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob Shaye, New Line Co-Chairman and Co-CEO comments, \u201cWe are very pleased we have been able to resolve our differences, and that Peter and Fran will be actively and creatively involved with \u2018The Hobbit\u2019 movies. We know they will bring the same passion, care and talent to these films that they so ably accomplished with \u2018The Lord of the Rings\u2019 Trilogy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter is a visionary filmmaker, and he broke new ground with \u2018The Lord of the Rings,\u2019\u201d notes Michael Lynne, New Line Co-Chairman and Co-CEO. \u201cWe\u2019re delighted he\u2019s back for \u2018The Hobbit\u2019 films and that the Tolkien saga will continue with his imprint. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Harry Sloan, who has been instrumental in helping us reach our new accord.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two \u201cHobbit\u201d films \u2013 \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d and its sequel \u2013 are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, with pre-production beginning as soon as possible. Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start, with the intention of \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d release slated for 2010 and its sequel the following year, in 2011.<\/p>\n

The Oscar-winning, critically-acclaimed LOTR Trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box-office. In 2003, \u201cReturn of the King\u201d swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the eleven categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture \u2013 the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The Trilogy\u2019s production was also unprecedented at the time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Obviously the two big questions are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Who will direct it if Jackson is only producing?<\/li>\n
  2. Why did New Line and Jackson patch things up now?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The likely candidate for the director’s chair would appear to be Sam Raimi<\/a> or a director of similar pedigree.<\/p>\n

    But what of the timing of all this? I’m guessing Bob Shaye and New Line looked in horror at how The Golden Compass performed over the last two weeks in the US<\/a> and wanted to ressurect a guaranteed money spinner as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

    We should note that the Philip Pullman adaptation has raked in over $90 million internationally, but given that it cost around $180 million and New Line pre-sold the foreign rights they will make less profit than they hoped for. (Though part of me does hope they film the next two parts – why not do them back-to-back and have a second bite at the cherry?)<\/p>\n

    Despite all the rancour over Jackson’s lawsuit<\/a> I guess money talks and this detente makes creative and business sense for both parties.<\/p>\n

    New Line need another blockbuster and Jackson would be keen to have a guiding hand in The Hobbit film given the years and effort he put into bringing The Lord of the Rings trilogy to the screen.<\/p>\n

    Whatever the reasons this can only be good news for Tolkien fans and those – including me – who loved what Jackson brought to the screen with his remarkable trilogy of films.<\/p>\n

    > Find out more about original novel of The Hobitt at Wikipedia<\/a>
    \n> Keep up to date on The Hobbit film at     their blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    After their recent legal dispute Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have decided to bury their differences and team up to produce a feature length film of The Hobbit. Here is the official press release from The OneRing.net: December 18, 2007 ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER PETER JACKSON AND NEW LINE CINEMA JOIN WITH MGM TO PRODUCE \u201cTHE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}