Under the Gun Review

Well, there you have it. There have been rumors the past few weeks that Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit would be turned into not two films as previously announced, but three. There haven’t been any official confirmations, until now. Peter Jackson himself announced via his Facebook page, on behalf of all of the studios involved, that The Hobbit will now be three films instead of two.

This is both a great and (potentially) bad thing. We now get three more movies within the rich Lord of the Rings universe that JRR Tolkien created and Peter Jackson has visualized. The Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies is arguably one of the best to ever be created, so this is exciting to see that we again get to be a part of such a beautiful landscape. I can’t describe to you how much I love these films, and how my best friend and I sit in wonder every single time we watch them.

On the negative side, The Hobbit is just one book, in comarison to the lengthy Lord of the Rings books. Where is he going to get the content for more then one film, let alone two or three? Only time will tell.

I have a lot of faith in Peter Jackson, I really do. Everything he’s touched for one reason or another has been cinematic gold. However i’m finding it hard for a reason to extend these films into three, but it is Peter Jackson, so I guess i’ll hold my griping until I see the films. If anyone were to extend the book over three movies though, it’d have to be Jackson.

You can read the message from Jackson after the break, but chime in for us: Do you think this is necessary, and are you excited?

It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life.  All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’

 

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance.  The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

 

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.

 

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, ”a tale that grew in the telling.”

 

Cheers,

 

Peter J