The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Special

'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or eat: it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort...'The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien


It's been over 10 years since the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring was created by Peter Jackson, and is still today one of the most ambitious film making projects ever undertaken. The entire film series is ranked in the top ten of the highest grossing film series ever, after franchises like Harry Potter, James Bond and even Twilight Saga.... I know.

Guillermo del Torro (Notably Dir. Pan's
Labyrinth, Hellboy and Blade II)The last of the LOTR series, Return of the King, was the most successful of the three and that was the last Tolkien adapted movie to be made from Peter Jackson for several years due to film companies red tape and rigorous struggles for the director. 
Pre production on The Hobbit began in 2008 with Guillermo del Toro at the helm. During the two years following, del Toro and Peter Jackson worked closely together writing the scripts for the Hobbit movie and the production of the new Middle Earth. 
Peter Jackson (Notably Dir. LOTR Tril,
King Kong and Lovely Bones.)



However in 2010 del Toro dropped out because of on going delays from the film company New Line Cinema and Warner. It wasn't until it was finally given the go-ahead that Peter Jackson took over del Toro as director and things started to move. 







Casting for the films took place mostly in 2010. And I'm glad to see familiar faces returning for the trilogy as Gandalf wouldn't be Gandalf without Ian McKellen and same is said for Andy Serkis who made Gollum, literally, who is he today. But I'm also looking forward to see the new faces, primarily the dwarfs; Kili (Aidan Turner, Being Human) Bofur (James Nesbitt, Cold Feet) Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage *swoon*, North and South) and of course Martin Freeman (Sherlock & The Office) playing Bilbo Baggins.


Other great British Actor that will appear within the other two films; The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and There and Back Again (2014), include Billy Connolly (Brave) as Dain II Ironfoot, Luke Evans (Immortals) will be Bard, Stephan Fry (QI) plays Master of Lake Town and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) *who will voice The Necromancer in Unexpected Journey but will be Smaug.
Full size image here.



Since hearing about The Hobbit adaption becoming a three-part trilogy, I couldn't understand how you could get three feature length movies from that book. Comparatively, The Hobbit is a lot different to LOTR. 


Not just in size (see above), as LOTR is a three part book series, but also in substance. Growing up I couldn't really get into Lord of the Rings as I found it hard to focus on, and it wasn't until I was older (post movies) that I could fully enjoy them. But The Hobbit was a relatively easy novel to read. 

An interview between Peter Jackson and Ain't It Cool News website explains the beginning idea way back in 2006 -

'We think the two film idea is really smart. One of the problems with The Hobbit is that it is a fairly simple kids story, and doesn't really feel like The Lord of the Rings. Tonally I mean. It always maybe a little worrying, but with two films that kinda gets easier. It allows for more complexity. At that implied stuff with Gandalf and the White Council and the return of Sauron could be fully explored.' 
The idea of using the book as a template almost for the trilogy is great. The book is a short read but to actually see the backstory of some of the main characters like Gollum, Aragorn and Gandalf would bulk it out. Making a trilogy quite interesting to see. 



So I'm very much looking forward to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey tomorrow. I even splurged a little and booked a 3D seat. Usually I just think that 3D is a waste, but I think I will enjoy this one. 


'As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by handsand by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and a jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wishedto go and see the great waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick. He looked out of the window. The stars were out in a dark sky above the trees.He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns. Suddenly in the wood beyond The Water a flame leapt up - probably somebody lighting a wood-fire - and he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quite Hill and kindling it all to flames. 

He shuddered.
And very quickly, he was plain Mr. Baggins of Bag-End, Under-hill, again.'The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien