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Oh MAN! Director Peter Jackson has confirmed that he’s going to use extra footage and the Appendices and make THREE WHOLE MOVIES OF WHITE COUNCIL GOODNESS instead of two:

The richness of the story of, 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,” Jackson wrote. “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.

Principal shooting wrapped on the first two “Hobbit” films earlier this month, and though Jackson has plenty of b-roll to work with, a third pic will require a re-start of production. That means the filmmakers had to renegotiate and work out schedules with dozens of rights-holders, thesps and other people with leverage.

Radagast! Radagast! Radagast!

Heck, Alatar and Pallando.

Is this another fanfic film? You bet. But with the original cast on hand it will be watchable, we hope.

IMRAHIL! IMRAHIL! IMRAHIL!

Now, is there a downside to all this excitement? Yes. The actual STORY of the Hobbit is a 272-page children’s book, with a plot concise enough to be contained in one single Rankin/Bass movie. With songs. Will a Jabba-sized trilogy of movies hopelessly distort this simple tale of “There and Back Again?”

You bet.

So for right now we’re supercharged by this wallow in obscure eddies of Middle Earth lore. As long as Jackson doesn’t go all King Kong on us…we’re good. We concede…that danger may exist.

But for now?

BOMBADIL! BOMBADIL! BOMBADIL!

Update: Here’s Jackson’s full statement from Facebook:

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.”

13 COMMENTS

  1. This is a chance to place The Hobbit in the larger context of the Lord of the Rings trilogy/history.

    Obviously it already is, esp. since the (spoiler alert!) finding of the ring sets up the events for the trilogy, but Tolkien wrote the book as a self-contained children’s book with no expectation that he would be writing the trilogy. There are some very vague references to skirmishes and other activities occurring around Middle Earth at the same time as the events of the Hobbit, many of which were tied to Sauron’s re-emergence in Mordor and Saruman’s corruption and come up in the Silmarillion.

    Jackson has the advantage of having already done the trilogy since everyone will understand the reference. If he had done the Hobbit first, he could not have done this since it would not have made any sense!

  2. i’m interested in seeing what they do with it. If it works well and delivers a good story and entertains me, then it won’t be a “cash grab.” If not… oh well, I can afford to watch three movies, so it really won’t bother me much.

  3. Yay. I wish more movie studios would decompress everything so much. Think of it. Both “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises” were nearly three hours long each. They easily could have added in a few superfluous deleted scenes and made them into four movies instead of two. I mean, damn, yeah I’d’ve had to have paid twice as much to see the same story on screen but, damn I’m just so gullible and easily led that the idea of an “extra” movie just blinds me so much.

  4. “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[…]”

    The Hobbit III: The Enrichening

    A film by Peter Jackson based on the appendices of JRR Tolkien

  5. This is great news. I hope there’s plenty of footage of our heroes making their ways, endlessly, across barren landscapes.

  6. I can give Jackson the benefit of the doubt. I am very pleased to revisit middle earth with him. He is not George Lucas yet…

  7. Sounds like with them ready to wrap up the story in 2 movies, that the Hobbit storyline will conclude in movie #2 and then movie #3 will just be pure Lord of the Rings appendices.

    Or at least that’s what I’m hoping for, because if they won’t conclude the Hobbit storyline by the second movie, I think it’s stretching that storyline too far.

  8. So…when do they start with the Silmarillion? I loved the story with this guy and the dog that only could talk 3 times (dont remember their names).

  9. Huan the Hound! I’ve always thought the story of Beren and Luthien would make a wonderful movie. The Children of Hurin would too, although it’s a very dark story and Hollywood might feel they have to make things a bit happier to please modern movie audiences.

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