Jackson not directing The Hobbit

[JMK]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15821905/

As far as I'm concerned, if Jackson isn't the one doing the directing in Tolkien's world, I'm not that interested in seeing it. Of course, I could change my mind once I see trailers etc...

[Figrin D'an]

Unfortunately, this has been coming for a while, it's just taken time for all of the fallout to occur from the lawsuit against New Line. It sucks, but it's not unexpected, IMO.

There's an interesting letter on TheOneRing.net that Jackson wrote to the fans, informing them of what was taking place and why he and Fran Walsh wouldn't be involved in further Tolkien projects. Granted, it only gives his point of view on the matter, but it's still worth reading to find out what exactly caused this situation.

There's also a lot of rumors flying around about whether or not WETA will still do the effects for The Hobbit, or if New Line will want to break of that relationship too and take it to a different house (which likely would mean ILM). There's also the question of the other "Lord of the Rings prequel" that is being mentioned, and what exactly that term means, since it's being distinguished from The Hobbit in discussion.

[Jedi Master Carr]

It be very hard for them to do it right without him. Also the question is will Ian Mckellan play Gandalf if Jackson doesn't do it? If he doesn't play the role, there is no way I would go see it.

[Saladin]

I was talking with my brother about the Hobbit movie, and he was of the opinion that it might be better if Jackson didn't direct it. And I see his point. The Hobbit is a stand-alone story, not a prequel. Yes, it introduces elements of The Lord of the Rings, but I don't want to see the story distilled to a bunch of references to the movies we've already seen. A new director might be better equipped to give the film its own distinct character without getting bogged down in unnecessary references to the trilogy.

Sort of like my views on the Star Wars prequels - I'm of the opinion that they would have been better off to depend less on the original trilogy and try to tell their own story.

In The Hobbit, part of the charm is that the main character is scarcely a hero; he's barely involved in the huge events going on around him. He even completely sleeps through the Battle of Five Armies, and Smaug is killed by some guy we'd barely heard of. I think if you work too hard to fit The Hobbit into the arc of The Lord of the Rings you take away from its merit as its own story.

Yeah, I could conceive of Peter Jackson managing to pull this off while staying true to his production standards - though the very idea of another prequel to bridge Hobbit with LotR sorta rankles me. On the other hand, who had heard of Peter Jackson before the LotR movies came out? Maybe somebody else we've never heard of will blow us all away again.

On the other other hand, it could end up looking something like this. ;)

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