Rhys-Davis May Pass on The Hobbit

John Rhys-Davies, Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has indicated to Empire Online that he is unlikely to return to the franchise despite being offered a role. The main cause is hardship of dealing with make-up but he is open to coming back for other roles.

...while Gimli doesn't appear in The Hobbit, his father Gloin does, so we asked him recently whether he'd be back for another go.

"I've already been asked and to be honest with you, I wouldn't. I have already completely ruled it out. There's a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more."

"It was just a gentle "What would you feel about putting it on again?" But no. I'd be interested in trying to create a different type of persona within... the thing. That is challenging as an actor. I'd really prefer to play something quite different. Maybe an Elf. They've got a different set of problems with The Hobbit because you've got 13 dwarves, a whole band of them... You're trying to represent a whole race... You're trying to do for dwarves what The Lord of the Rings did for hobbits. "

McKellen Updates Hobbit Status

While at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Sir Ian McKellen provided an update on the status of The Hobbit films. The main bit of news is BOTH scripts for the movies are near completion indicating that Peter Jackson and company have every intention of filming both movies at the same time much like he did the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

From Empire:

“The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon,” he revealed. “Then they'll be budgeted, and then they'll be cast. And they'll be going when they've always said they would be, which is next spring – March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, 'We're going to film for 383 days.' He's got that artistic autism! Jackson's the same; they're very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they've so much in common. They both can't stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they're both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo's one of the most brilliant men I've ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!”

"Unforunately, there won’t be many of the actors going back,” he said, “unless they’re going to put masks on and be disguised as dwarves! Andy Serkis is, at the moment, I think, the only other actor who’s doing this film.”

Rings Composer Howard Shore Interview

AICN has posted an interview with Howard Shore, the composer of the score for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Howard Shore is going to the "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings Score Spectacular" at the Radio City Music Hall this weekend. In the interview he discusses the upcoming performance and how the live performances of the score got started. Below is his response to working on The Hobbit films with the full interview here.

IR: How about The Hobbit films? Are you already thinking about how you are scoring it or what you may do different from the previous work?
HS: There's lots of discussion going on. I've been in a ton of meetings. There's been a long period of reading, research, and just getting ready for the several years that I'll be back in Middle Earth - a place that I love. It's a great world to go into and I just want to finish all the projects that I'm doing so I can just enter back into that world.

Can Hobbit Escape Rings Shadow?

The Hero Complex blog asks a rather interesting question "Can the Hobbit escape the towering shadow of The Lord of the Rings?

The article itself provides a summary on the current status of the Hobbit reiterating that members of the Rings cast are open to returning and that principle photography is hoping to begin in April. Currently a draft of the script is expected by November. After that summary is their prediction:

This Friday, when del Toro blows out the candles to celebrate his 45th birthday, I doubt his wish will have anything to do with the box-office performance of "The Hobbit." This is a filmmaker driven by the demands of his imagination, not studio expectations. It's a good thing that del Toro will not obsess about matching "Rings" in commercial success because there's no way it's going to happen. These films will not match the massive swoon and sweep of Jackson's trilogy, and while Tolkien fans will likely love them, I suspect that a significant percentage of the American moviegoing public has some Middle-earth fatigue at this point. As for the true Tolkien devotees and fantasy diehards, I'm guessing they become gleefully divided over the Jackson trilogy versus del Toro double feature and inherit a decade of a debate like the Radiohead fans who still bicker about "Kid A" and "OK Computer."

My belief is it will always be compared to Rings and will likely always fall short. I think Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson already know this so the goal isn't to outdo the trilogy but simply tell the two best stories they can that over time will stop being referred to as a trilogy but instead five films that have to be seen together to get the full story.

MGM Lives, Hobbit Stays

Movie studio MGM has had some financial trouble lately that led to concerns that could affect their participation in making The Hobbit films. Thanks to a new agreement with their creditors, the studio may have bought enough time to stay afloat and complete their partnership on the Hobbit films which is at this point is probably critical to the studios continued survival.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

The investment firm leads a lenders steering committee that has been agitating for a dramatic restructuring of the Lion's operations and its ownership structure. In exchange for an agreement to limited interest forbearance, J.P. Morgan secured a few changes in existing debt terms.

Concern over MGM's hold on "Hobbit" is at the heart of the activity. In a 50-50 rights partnership with Warner Bros.' New Line unit, two "Hobbit" pics are being developed.

The first "Hobbit" aims for theatrical release in 2011, with Guillermo del Toro on board to direct that and a sequel. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and del Toro are writing scripts for both and are expected to deliver the first screenplay by the end of November.

The move to delay interest payments until Dec. 15 wasn't motivated by any immediate fears of insolvency at MGM, as a recent company audit showed cash flow should be sufficient to keep the lights on for at least another year.

Eventually, once equity is shifted from the Lion's current owners to the lenders group, an auction likely will be held for the studio. Keeping its 50% hold on "Hobbit" -- broadly viewed as a potential big moneymaker -- would bolster interest in bidding on the Lion.

MGM execs hope to corral at least $40 million for its "Hobbit" activities. The requested interest deferrals amount to more than $50 million.

Current MGM owners include investment firms Providence Equity and TPG, Sony and Comcast.

A banking source said some of the tweaks to debt terms will begin to dilute those owners' current equity. A much more dramatic shifting of equity is expected over coming months as lenders agree to convert debt to equity.

Once the lenders become owners, that group likely would conduct an auction for the assets. Nobody sees the lenders group as a long-term operator of MGM.

I do not know a lot about banking but it seems the goal is to essentially shore up MGMs bottom line so the studio can be sold piecemeal at a higher value. It is possible the studio could be sold as a single unit but more than likely a bidding war is going to erupt on many of its franchises, especially James Bond, and its library of movies and television properties. It seems like the storied history of this studio is going to come to an end very soon.