Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition on Blu-Ray?

According to Collider, the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings trilogy could come next year with additional features. In a conversation with Peter Jackson:

He told me the first editions to hit Blu-ray are going to be the theatrical versions and a year later we’d get the extended editions. The only good news is he told me the studio has started talking to him about doing some new extras for the Blu-ray extended editions. No word on exactly what the new stuff might be.

SDCC: Jackson Update on the Hobbit

At the San Diego Comic Con on Saturday, Peter Jackson provided an update on The Hobbit from District 9 panel specifically addressing rumors that a casting announcement for Bilbo Baggins was going to be made. The script is about three weeks away from being delivered and at least three months before can begin the casting process. The plan remains to do the Hobbit in two parts making use of additional information in the later Lord of the Rings volumes to create a more "epic" story.

Hobbit Script Update

Peter Jackson has provided an update to the status of the Hobbit script while at the San Diego Comic-Con to promote his upcoming movie District 9 according to Hero Complex.

He's still working on the script for the first of the two "Hobbit" films (set to be directed by Guillermo del Toro), which is about three weeks away from being delivered to the studio. He said despite the fact that people assume the film is greenlighted, "that's not really true. It has to be shot for a particular budget and the studio has to be comfortable with that and they have to like the script. So, there is a process involved and we're about to go into that process. Once we've got the script, we can then budget and schedule it and at that point we can go out and cast the movie. Everybody thinks we're casting it secretly and we're talking to people, which is not true either. We haven't offered any actor a role yet because they always ask to see the script, obviously, and you can't offer an actor a role until you've got dates that you can tell them when you need them. We kind of have to get the script down so the machinery can roll. The casting will begin in a couple of months."

For more on Jackson's other projects, click here.

Rebuilding Hobbiton

According to The One Ring, construction on rebuilding Hobbiton for The Hobbit has begun in New Zealand. Below are pictures from Red Carpet Tours of the site as crews begin planting hedgerows, fruit trees and work on extensions to the various paths for new Hobbit holes/homes.

Jackson Refutes Bilbo Casting Rumors

That didn't take long. The other day rumors were started that the casting of Bilbo Baggins would be announced at the San Diego Comic-Con next week. To no surprise, The Hobbit Executive Producer Peter Jackson has denied the rumor.

"No, we won’t be announcing Bilbo for a little while," he said when we asked about a Comic-Con announcement. "We’re starting to think about casting, but we’re knee-deep in the script right now. And when we do go to actors, they’re probably going to ask to see a script, so we’re powering ahead with getting the first draft done.”

We also asked him what he's planning to do next after The Lovely Bones, but he's not yet sure. "I haven’t yet decided what I’ll be directing after that. At the moment we’re concentrating on writing a couple of little movies with Guillermo [Del Toro]. A couple of small films! (Laughs) And that’s going to take us another few months of writing to do.

Tennant, Radcliff Up for Bilbo Baggins?

According to LA Times' Hero Complex blog, the actor playing Bilbo Baggins for The Hobbit could be announced next week at the San Diego Comic-Con. Suspected actors include Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe, Doctor Who's David Tennant and Wanted James McAvoy. The evidence of this rumor? Absolutely nothing. Frankly its seems like made up crap for website hits to me as the scripting isn't probably not even finalized so at most the casting is probably still in the discussion phase.

Hobbit Heirs Sue Time Warner

According to Bloomberg, the heirs of J.R.R. Tolkien are seeking up to $220 million from Time Warner as part of the profit made from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. As part of signing over the movie rights for 40 years they were supposed to get 7.5% of the movie's profits but it appears the company used some of Hollywood famous "creative" accounting to avoid paying the family any money. As a result a jury trial will start in October to decide the case assuming it’s not settled before then as the studios loath to have their accounting methods be made public.

“Usually it’s not outright thievery by the studios, but death by contract,” said Pierce O’Donnell, the Los Angeles- based lawyer who represented the late columnist Art Buchwald in a successful case against Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures in 1988. “It’s an esoteric world where black doesn’t mean black, and white doesn’t necessarily mean white.”

The Tolkien’s also want the option to terminate further rights to the author’s work, as the original contract lets them do in the event of a breach, according to the complaint. News Corp.’s HarperCollins Publishers, which holds Tolkien’s publishing rights, is also a plaintiff.

This is just one of many lawsuits the company (and New Line) has been evolved in over contract disputes with the successful franchise. Pretty much anyone associated with the films in anyway form Peter Jackson, to the actors, producers (from failed attempts to bring the movie to the screen) and more have sought a portion of the profits, most settling out of court.

Suffice it to say its highly likely the Tolkiens' have a case and I would be very surprised is this case makes it before a jury, especially with the new Hobbit movies going before the cameras next year which this case could impact if the court decides they can terminate their contract with Time Warner. For now that seems unlikely. More details of the case can be found here.

The Hobbit Shoot Starts in Nine Months

In a new article from the LA Times, Guillermo del Toro discusses his work form the last few years (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboys, book The Strain) and his future plans (The Hobbit, Frankenstein, and more). If you a fan of the director, it is an interesting read.

From the Hobbit perspective, the most interesting piece of information is this:

In nine months, he will begin shooting “The Hobbit,” and all he has to do is match the Tolkien achievement of Peter Jackson, the “Lord of the Rings” director whose three films pulled in more than $2.9 billion at the box office worldwide and collected 17 Oscars, including one for best picture and another for director. (Jackson is back as producer on “The Hobbit” and said last year that he “cannot think of a more inspired filmmaker to take the journey back to Middle-earth.”)

As for “The Hobbit,” Del Toro is in the midst of intense pre-production, doing work with models, script pages, set blueprints and thousands of decisions on details.

Asked about the film and what he wants to avoid with it, Del Toro said: “What I want to do is make the best movie I have ever done. What I want to avoid is to make some fastidious tracing of lines that were established by the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. We’re trying to be respectful of it, and what was shown in the trilogy is canon, but we are gleefully exploring new creatures, new set pieces, new territory and new avenues. "As with everything, there is always something new to get excited about.”

It appears that scripting continues, pre-production design is moving along and the plan is on track to start filming around April 2010.