This piece of news is a long time coming! The Wrap reports that MGM and Warner Bros. have reached a deal to officially start work on the highly anticipated prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy The Hobbit!
And here’s the cherry on top of that nerd-gasmic sundae – Peter Jackson will direct the two part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel! According to the source, production will begin in February in New Zealand, bringing the crew back to the Middle Earth sets where the original trilogy was shot.
For fans of the film franchise and casual observers of this often heartbreaking tale of financial woes and flip-flopping talent, today’s announcement is a major sigh of relief. If there never was a plan to adapt The Hobbit, there wouldn’t have been such an outcry when the project went into jeopardy as a result of MGM’s money troubles. People’s hopes were drummed up only to be let down time and time again as one problem after another kept the film from rolling before cameras.
Now, as Oscar winner Jackson, who also co-wrote and will produce the epic two-part production, is ready to rock, the sky is the limit for The Hobbit, which should first hit theaters in December 2012 before completing in December of 2013. Though there’s still no word on who will play protagonist Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman has been most recently rumored for the part), Sir Ian McKellen is set to reprise his role as Gandalf the Grey in the film, while other characters from LOTR like Hugo Weaving’s Elrond and Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel could show up at some point or another.
Source: The Wrap
