From E! Online:

New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson have made nice in their blood fued over The Lord of the Rings royalties, paving the way for the Oscar-winning filmmaker to oversee an epic version of The Hobbit.

"I'm very pleased that we've been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line," Jackson said in a statement Tuesday. "We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth."

....

"Now that we are all in agreement on The Hobbit, we can focus on assembling the production team that will capture this phenomenal tale on film," Sloan added.

It is not clear what specific roles Jackson and Walsh will play. The joint press release simply says the couple, who also produced and cowrote LOTR, will serve as executive producers of The Hobbit and "manage the production."

Jackson already has his hands full, shooting his adaptation of The Lovely Bones and with Tintin on the docket for next fall, so he apparently won't helm The Hobbit. There's no word on who will adapt The Hobbit, which will be divided into two parts for the big screen.

Likewise, no casting has been announced. Of the key actors in LOTR, only McKellen, Ian Holm (Bilbo) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) figure in The Hobbit's storyline.

Once those details get ironed out, production will begin "as soon as possible." Like LOTR, both halves of The Hobbit will be shot simultaneously. Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start, with MGM and New Line splitting the costs and sharing distribution duties.

The first film is slated for 2010 and its sequel in theaters the following year.

OH yeah, this place still psots things. Betcher ass it does.

(via Rotten Tomatoes) : After months of duking it out with New Line in the courts (and in public), it appears as if a path may have finally been cleared for Peter Jackson to return to Middle-earth.

We aren't going to get heavily into the details here -- we are only humble gossipmongers without law degrees, after all, and the court case between Jackson and New Line involves armies of attorneys and roughly $300 gazillion -- but this week, a judge rapped the studio on the knuckles for failing to provide key documents. New Line now must pay a $125,000 sanction, and has until Tuesday to turn over internal audits relating to disputed profits from the Lord of the Rings movies.

It sounds like a perfectly boring detail from a big ol' lawsuit, but it's potentially meaningful for Lord of the Rings fans, because the judge's decision could very well open up negotiations for a settlement between Jackson and New Line...and, in the process, set wheels in motion for The Hobbit. As Entertainment Weekly puts it:

At this writing, no agreements have been announced and details of the negotiations are sketchy (neither New Line nor Jackson's camp would comment to EW on any aspect of this story), but sources close to the talks tell us that they're detecting a lot less frost in the air, and that a deal may be reached that could help usher J.R.R. Tolkien's maiden Middle-earth masterpiece to screens before the end of the decade.

''There has been a detente,'' says one insider. "There is now the beginning of a discourse between Peter Jackson and New Line that's running parallel to the litigation proceedings.''

Surprise, everyone who is still reading this community!

Figwit's band has an HBO show now.

Further discussion and an explanation will be held at tolkienthoughts. Yes there is a reason for this. Go join, if you like the idea.

So I have been re-reading the trilogy, just restarting it and was thinking strange thoughts. So I shared them with Tanya. Below are my thoughts along with hers (hers are in italics). As I go through and think other things, refine them and so on I will post them here. Comment on them, talk to us:

I dunno they're not even at the Brandywine yet, ya know? And somehow this time through it just FEELS deeper than it has in the past. Like all the connections are firing for me now. I think it might be the more I write the more I can see what Tolkien MEANT that he couldn't get across (Hehehe. We disagree here; for me, he got it across. ;)) and the more I can be infected with his depth of love for these characters and the truth in some of their movements. Gandalf... this time around I can see such depth to him I didn't spot before.

His treatment of Frodo, the way he both dismisses him as a child (telling him to keep it secret and safe but withholding any sort of why, as a use of power against a weaker person) to his reveal and admittance that he was essentially wrong to do so (you can know all there is to know about hobbits, etc) is so oddly telling.

Interesting point. Also consider that Hobbits are posited as eternally child-like beings. It's part of their toughness; it's also their drawback. They have a tendency to use light words when heavy ones are more appropriate, as Merry says to Aragorn... another childlike trait. But Gandalf is caught in his own trap -- he is insecure about his own knowledge at that point, and wants to check with Saruman to see that the ring was really the ring. Gandalf's growing too...

It's there that Frodo grows up, when the world knocks at your door and refuses to treat you except as an adult, you become one. The next planning, the waiting for Gandalf to return and to set off, as all just marks of Frodo's reluctance to accept his new position as an adult.

I think Frodo is actually quite an adult, throughout the story. Bilbo is eternally a child; Frodo knows exactly what he's in for when he leaves his beloved Shire. He puts off the adventure for 20 years on purpose; he needs to take that time to live his life before he gives it up.

And yet he has an easier time of it than his uncle did. Bilbo was basically shoved out the door (all but literally) towards adulthood.

But did Bilbo ever grow up?

And, of course, the ring manages to freeze you at adulthood for all the wearer's, doesn't it? Strange that. Bilbo was frozen in time AFTER his trip, his defining event. Frodo was frozen before it. Smeagol was frozen after his defining choice.

Actually, I think the ring's affect on the wearer doesn't have much to do with adulthood, but more to do with power. The ring is instant power -- how do people react who suddenly have it? Gollum became ever more corrupt. Bilbo -- never -- he was the only ringbearer to WILFULLY give up the ring. Remember that Frodo fails his quest...

But Frodo, the best of them, one might argue, was frozen before he had made his choice. If the Ring truly finds its own Master (as much as the darkness might control it the Ring has motivations of its own in a lot of ways we see) then it forced Frodo's hand far before he knew it was being forced.

The ring very definitely has a will of its own and is seeking its master.

Of course, Gandalf let it happen. As a parent knowing his child needs to grow a certain way, convinced that it is for the best? As a mistake? As a move of desperation in that he had no other choice and/or wasn't sure in the first place?

We can't be sure but going back to Gandalf's treatment of Frodo going from "Keep it safe! Keep it secret!" to "It is the Ring itself, we do not choose our time, this is yours" manages to be a huge 180 on his whole stance. Which is key to this, I feel. Gandalf is the father of the Tale. He is eternal, better than us, but also shown as vulnerable and all too human. Noticeably there are moments where he is overcome by his child. Speak, friend, and enter being the most noticeable. Gandalf had moved past it and it was set forth by a simple thought, a movement of time wherein he is overtaken in the father role for a moment.

(See previous point about Gandalf's own insecurity)

And then he dies, the father gone the children lost to find their own way. Which is when they lose themselves and the fellowship. And yet their very struggle to set that right leads the father figure back to them, but changed now into almost a grandfather figure. Which is striking if you think about it. Because the father has been supplanted by Aragorn, and now Gandalf returns to not lend counsel but to lend the strength of will needed, the physical proof that others have come before. It allows Aragorn to grow into his role, as well as the others, to be sure.

Interesting. I like this point.

The mother figures are, of course, both Sam and Smeagol. Sam being the kind mother we all need to outgrow and leave and Smeagol being the dark side of the mother figure that we try to deny. The two are in stasis, pushing and pulling at Frodo throughout the book, even before we see Smeagol. Frodo says he would kill him, not yet seeing how integral to himself and his journey Smeagol is. The quick hand to refuse the darker side of the unknown, which is eventually eclipsed in his trust, over Sam's misgivings.

Another interesting point, although I would posit that the female is almost entirely absent in this story -- as is the "mother" -- the only mothers that we see are all-powerful Elbereth, Galadriel, Arwen, and the flawed "mother" Eowyn.

And, of course, it has to be noted that in the end the darker mother force, the controlling and scheming side of parental control saves Frodo, giving itself up, as is often so in life.

Another fascinating point.

You may have heard about the new Limited Edition DVDs, or maybe you haven't. Either way I feel the need to fire up this community a second and say something.

I mean isn't this why it's still here? Sometimes we still have to talk about Tolkien (and sometimes weetanya links to a really cool hour on NPR about Tolkien and doesn't post it here) and say stuff to you guys.

Bear with me, I'm sick.

Does anyone else remember Jackson saying he doesn't want to release these DVDs unless they are all new versions of the movie? I swear I remember that quote and even posted it somewhere here. I just can't be bothered to go verify it. So you can go look, you can take me at my word or you can decide I'm wrong - that doesn't matter (or I could find the reference myself: [Discussing the Extended and regular LOTR DVDs] "It was very important to Peter that there was zero duplication of material. Even the movie is a different movie. You're never paying for something twice, ever. If you buy all 6 DVDs you're not buying anything twice."). What does matter is this:

"Disc 1 will present the Special Extended DVD Edition of the film split into two parts (on two sides of a DVD-18) at the break point of the initial DVD release. The Theatrical version will also be split into two parts (on two sides of a DVD-18) available through seamless branching."

Past that each DVD has a new Special Feature: "Never-before-seen behind-the-scenes documentary by Costa Botes, the filmmaker director Peter Jackson personally hired." (Each is a different length btw, the Fellowship one runs 109 mins, Towers runs 86 and King runs 113)

That's it? Yes, yes if you buy them on Amazon you pay 17 bucks (16.98 right this second) for each one and that's cheap I suppose but... all of our support for buying the theatricals and then the extended editions with promise of an eventual third release that would have even more restored scenes and a blooper reel and....

We get a set of 17 dollar DVDs that have the same stuff we've loved before mashed together (It is about time they used seamless branching to do the merge of both versions I admit) and a single documentary? ONE documentary? Consider that for 21 bucks you can get the extended Towers DVD instead of this new one. With that you'd get:

# A new version of the second installment includes 43 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film. (approx. 223 minutes)
# Commentary track by writer-director Peter Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
# Commentary track by the design team
# Commentary track by the production/post-production team
# Commentary track by 16 cast members, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, and Miranda Otto
# Two discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
# Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film
# Designing and inspiration for locations in Middle-earth
# Storyboards to pre-visualization
# Weta Workshop visit: See sculptors in action as they create weapons, armor, creatures, and miniatures from the film
# Atlas of Middle-earth tracing the journey of the Fellowship
# An interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process
# Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists
# Sending the actors into battle: sword fighting
# Principal photography: Stories from the set
# Digital effects including motion capture and the computer program to create the armies of Orcs
# Bigatures: a close-up look at the miniatures
# Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos
# Post-Production: editing it all together
# Sound design demonstration
# DVD-ROM Content: Includes access to exclusive online features

Four. Dollars. More. Per. Movie.

So who is this aimed at? People who liked the film but don't want the extended cuts because they run too long? But for 10 bucks they can get (off the Fellow disc):

# "The Quest Fulfilled: A Director's Vision" (23:05)
# "A Filmmaker's Journey: Making The Return of The King" (28:30)
# "National Geographic Special: Beyond the Movie" (45:57)
# Six featurettes
# --Aragorn's Destiny (3:25)
# --Minas Tirith: Capital of Gondor (3:10)
# --The Battle of Pelennor Fields (2:14)
# --Samwise the Brave (4:32)
# --Eowyn: White Lady of Rohan (3:45)
# --Digital Horse Doubles (4:35)
# The Battle For Middle Eath Continues--Video Games from EA (3:00)
# "The Lord of The Rings" Trilogy Supertrailer (6:45)
# DVD-ROM: Weblinks to exclusive content

So... uhhh... who wants both cuts this badly? It's a bad deal and though the packaging is very pretty (it really is guys) it's an utter and total rip-off no matter how you slice it. The only way people might want this is if they own neither version of the films and want both theatrical and extended and think that 30 bucks is too much to pay for both versions (plus, since the extras don't repeat between those sets they also grab onto a ton of extra stuff, days of it really).

Oh. Wait a second.

They wouldn't also be playing into the market that would want to buy the thing just for one documentary, would they?

See, that would be offensive to us, don't you think? It would be insulting to try and push yet another release of the same material we already have for one new behind the scenes thing that none of us need. And sure, all sorts of studios do this and get away with it and no one really cares. We're different though, I'd like to think. We supported this stuff all along like nothing else and they always treated us well and fairly. Until now.

Shame on New Line and shame on Peter Jackson. Biting the hand that feeds never works out well.

So... New Line has an online store. I have them send me alerts when they update the LoTR stuff on it, only so I can see if anything there is so cool, so interesting, so special that you guys should see it.

Yes, I still do this for you.

I do it for love.

But today I do it out of confusion.

Today I got notification of a new statue, and I thought they were kidding. They weren't:

Peter Jackson as a Corsair
This is apparently the final Sideshow Weta LoTR sculpt. The statue measures 9 x 7 x 4 inches and costs $125.

I... just... come on!

Yup! Over at Ain't it Cool there is an interview with Michael Pellerin, the DVD producer for LOTR (and Kong).

Some short highlights for you (but the whole thing is worth reading):

[Discussing the Extended and regular LOTR DVDs] "It was very important to Peter that there was zero duplication of material. Even the movie is a different movie. You're never paying for something twice, ever. If you buy all 6 DVDs you're not buying anything twice."

"The idea was knowing that eventually LORD OF THE RINGS would be a box set or some anniversary, let's make sure we save the heavy duty stuff so when that happens and people go, "Aw, man. The Extended Editions... what more can you do?" That when that happens, it'll be like, "Oh, my God! They actually saved some of the coolest stuff for last!""

"Of course, Peter had a good relationship with Michael Regina and the guys from The One Ring.Net, who started KongIsKing.net. As you know, the website of choice for the cast and crew was TheOneRing.Net. I mean, everybody tuned into that every day."

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So what have we learned? There WILL be, some year in the future, another release of the LOTR stuff, with even MORE extras. ToRN is utterly loved by Jackson and cast. We're still here. Other stuff. We learned other stuff, I'm sure we have.

Quick note of love and consumerism:

I don't know how long these will last, but -

The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition Collector's Gift Set) NOW 50% off at Amazon

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition Collector's Gift Set) NOW 50% off at Amazon

The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition Collector's Gift Set) NOW 50% off at Amazon

Like I said, I don't know how long this sale will last - but all 3 collector's sets are 50% off right now. Saw it and thought I should pass it on.

Hope summer is treating you all well.

Happy 113th birthday to The Professor himself.

The body may be gone but the words, images, ideas and dreams will never fade from our hearts.

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Share us a story of how you came to originally know the works.