New-Old Directing & Story Changes Rumors

A few new rumors have popped up regarding who the director of The Hobbit films will be, a major story change from the book, and production start date.

To start with, an old rumor returns with Flicks reporting "District 9 director Neill Blomkamp will be helming The Hobbit." This rumor first started around June and was shot down by the director's agency saying that they have never been contacted by MGM or anyone else about the possibility. This rumor remains completely unverified so take it with a grain of salt for now.

In story rumors, The One Ring is reporting that Bilbo Baggins may have a creator impact on the story's final battle then he did in the film. This is based on a story summary Bilbo that is described as "...he doesn’t have huge courage he does become, particularly in the last battle, very brave." In the novel Bilbo essentially misses out on the last battle (The Battle of Five Armies) having been knocked out early on. So this seems to suggest that he either participates in throughout the battle or maybe gets knocked out deeper into the battle as a result of a heroic act. Jackson has shown, to the consternation of diehard fans, he isn't above making changes to the source material if it will service the film.

The final bit of rumor, from the same article, is principle photography may start in January, rather than the previously rumored November date. This actually makes more sense as currently the MGM bankruptcy situation isn't expected to be settled until the end of the year.