Desolation of Smaug Story Tidbits, New Tauriel Image

The cover story for German magazine Cinema has provided a few spoilers for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that will hit theaters on December 13. As translated by ThorinOakenshield.net, the article provides a little bit on insight on the story that Peter Jackson and company is crafting for the trilogy. While a lot of it could be inferred from the book itself, Jackson isn't sticking 100% to the novel and he is mixing in The Lord of the Rings Appendices giving him plenty of opportunity to surprise. Below are choice quotes from the article. The image to the left of Tauriel and Legolas is courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Philippa Boyens Talks About Writing The Hobbit

In an article with New Zealand Stuff, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey co-writer Philippa Boyens discussed returning to Middle-Earth, handling various story elements and why they decided to invent a new character for the films.

On returning to Middle-Earth:
When asked, there's a long pause before she answers. "I loved the world. I loved [JRR] Tolkien's writing. [But] I think there was a quality about myself where I felt like 'I'd done it'," she says while in Wellington. "But that feeling didn't last very long because The Hobbit is a whole other fantasy really, a whole other work. Once we got into it and started writing it I felt really good about it and then I started loving it more and more. It was a natural process of falling back in love."

Next Wave of Lego The Hobbit Sets Reveal Movie Spoiler

A new Lego poster has revealed the next Lego sets that will be released for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  Most of the sets do not seem to reveal any particular story point that isn't already known to anyone that has read the novel.  One of them however seems to indicate a major revision to the original story.

Spoiler Warning

Smaug 1st Appearance Hint?

One of the things that is interesting about writing about something like The Hobbit films compared to Transformers or Star Trek is the characters, plot and events are known. Technically there can't be any spoilers because all you have to do is pick up the books or hit up a wiki link to find out for yourself what happened. As a result the question for fans is more about the execution. How will favorite moments be portrayed on film? What changes will be made? What will be added and cut? Things like that. It reminds you that the journey a story take is just as important as knowing the specific “spoiler” details. The details don’t matter without the journey and the journey doesn’t matter without the details.

With the announcement of a third film, one of the new questions is exactly where will Peter Jackson choose to break up the films and introduce Smaug the Dragon played by Benedict Cumberbatch. In a recent interview he provided his own theory on how The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey may end that actually makes a lot of sense.

I think my eye might open at the end of the first film and then you’ll get the rest of me in the second.

If true it almost means that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug would be a fitting title for the second film as it would likely focus on events from Laketown to the final fight with Smaug. Almost wish they would just go with The Hobbit (for part one), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (for part two) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (for part three). I guess we will find out in a little less than four months.

Details on 3rd Hobbit Undetermined

It seems that Warner Bros and MGM have a lot of confidence in Peter Jackson as they agreed to a third The Hobbit film without a budget or script. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson's decision to pursue a third film kicked off a large volume of meetings as they worked towards a decision.

"If anybody had been a big hindrance, it wouldn't have happened," says a source with ties to the movies. "It was such a short window of time to make this decision, if anybody had said no, it would have been two movies."

The Hobbit writing team of Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens started the ball rolling in a meeting with in early July in a meeting with executive producer Alan Horn, New Line's Toby Emmerich and Carolyn Blackwood. While the writers went back to New Zealand for pick-up shots, the three executives started working on getting a deal done. This including locking up the cast before the official announcement.

Theories on Film Split Point for The Hobbit

As you are aware, The Hobbit is really two films - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (out 12/14/2012) and the other is The Hobbit: There and Back Again (out 12/13/2013). A question that remains unknown is exactly will the break occur as the books themselves are not written with a break. Any theories are also is complicated by the fact that book was not split into separate books like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Over at Movies.com, a TOR editor provides his own theories on where the break will occur. To me any consideration will have to factor in two things. One is it has to happen after a climactic or emotional moment and two is it has to easily lead to a climatic opening. My thinking is along the lines of the end of the Fellowship with the battle with the Orcs and the Fellowship fracturing but Two Towers opening with that awesome fight between Gandalf and Balrog. Below is summary of their very plausible theories with my opinion in italics.

1) Bilbo finding the One Ring
In the novel, Bilbo finding the ring after Gollum lost it seems like a good ending point. With the additional material being added to show Gandalf's battle against the Necromancer, it seems a natural ending point while allow more time to get to know the 13 Dwarves.

Lilly Evangeline Provides More Tauriel Details

While promoting the recent release of Real Steel on home video, Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) spoke with Entertainment Weekly about her role in The Hobbit films. Specifically she provided a few more details on what role her character of Tauriel has in the film since it is not based on one in the books. While she did not say exactly what her character does, she is reporting back to New Zealand for the last half of five months of filming which a recent casting call strong indicates will be to film the Battle of Five Armies. The Hobbit portions are below, the full interview can be found here.

Speaking of small and little, I’d be remiss not to bring up The Hobbit. You’re playing a new character named Tauriel, who’s a Mirkwood elf, and that would lead me to believe that she is a warrior of some kind. Did you have to learn archery and swordplay?
Yes, she is a warrior. She’s actually the head of the Elven guard. She’s the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly. You definitely wouldn’t want to be caught in a dark alley next to Tauriel.

Cumberbatch Reveals Minor Plot Spoiler

In an interview with Empire to promote BBC's Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch commented on his roles of Smaug and the Necromancer, revealing a tiny plot change.

"I’m playing Smaug through motion-capture and voicing the Necromancer, which is a character in the Five Legions War or something which I’m meant to understand. He’s not actually in the original Hobbit. It’s something [Peter Jackson]’s taken from Lord Of The Rings that he wants to put in there."

In the novel, the Battle of Five Armies (his Legions reference) is essentially a fight over Smaug's treasure after his defeat. The Necromancer (aka Sauron) was defeated in a battle at Mirkwood that occurred "off screen" halfway through the novel. In the book, Gandalf left Bilbo and co to their own devices why taking care of an unspecified adventure that was revealed in later books to be a fight with
Sauron.

The comment above suggests either a few things. One is Peter Jackson merged the two battles, giving a greater purpose to the Five Armies battle beyond simple greed. I think the more likely possibility is both battles are depicted in the movies (Mirkwood in Unexpected Adventure, Five Armies in There and Back Again), with Mirkwood being the first fight with Sauron and the Five Armies being the second while retaining its significance as would provide a nice transition to Sauron rising to power in Mordor for The Lord of the Rings. This fits with what little we know of filming as the departure of Gandalf is kept in the movie (per an AICN set report) and while providing a significant battle for the first movie, something the book didn't have. If true, Tolkien purists will pitch a fit but I doubt movie goers will complain.

Wood Reveals Details His Role in The Hobbit

In an interview with On The Red Carpet, Elijah Wood provided more details on his and Iam Holm's roles in The Hobbit. As expected, he will serve as a narrator of sorts to the audience as he "reads" from Bilbo's book about his adventures.

"...it's actually a flashforward in time. Frodo is not alive around the time period of 'The Hobbit.' It's about 60 years before Frodo's birth, I think. So ultimately, myself and Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in 'The Lord of the Rings,' will have some scenes together that will precede the 'Hobbit' time."

"Bilbo actually wrote 'The Hobbit' in a book called 'There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale,' so I think there might be something to do with that book that he's writing," he said. "It's very much keeping the integrity. Frodo does not exist within the context of the time period of 'The Hobbit.'"

"I'm actually heading down in October," Wood said. "I'm really excited. I love New Zealand so it's always a pleasure to revisit New Zealand. It still very much feels like a home, a second home for me. And the opportunity to come back and work with largely the same crew and creative team and a number of the same actors is really exciting. It feels like a giant family reunion, in a way."

Jackson Confirms Two Hobbit Plot Points

Peter Jackson has answered the first of 20 Questions (or more) on Facebook that fans have submitted over the last few weeks about The Hobbit. The answers will come as his busy schedule allows but the first one drops a very interesting story note that gives insight on one of the ways that Peter Jackson will explore Middle-Earth outside of what was in The Hobbit novel.

VALERIA KEMENTARI asked, "Are we going to see the White Council attacking Dol Guldor?"
This was quite a popular topic, with JOHN LIDDLE, TOBY PHILLIPS and SETH DONALD, along with many others, asking variations of this same question.

I'm not going to say just what and when, but I will confirm that both the White Council and Dol Guldur will feature in the movies. And not just in one scene either. Just how to visualise it has been a challenge, but fortunately Alan Lee and John Howe went crazy with ideas, and it should look pretty cool.

In fact to celebrate the start of these 20 questions, I'll show you an exclusive photo of the White Council planning the attack on Dol Guldur! Even if you don't want to be hit with spoilers, you should still take a look. For the first image of Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel brandishing an array of fearsome Elvish weapons, CLICK HERE!

Another question soon...

Cheers,
Peter J

The White Council is a group of elders that include the three Elves Ring Bearers (Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond) and Wizards (including Radagast the Brown that Sylvester McCoy is playing) and Saruman (Christopher Lee). With Gandalf's help they devise an attack on Dol Guldur which is the fortress of the Necromancer (aka Sauron) that is south of Mirkwood (the area that Bilbo and co are travelling through to reach Smaug). In The Hobbit novel, there is a period of time where Gandalf leaves the group to take care of other business and doesn't return until after the defeat of Smaug. Smaug was an ally of Necromancer so it seems the Dwarves goals of taking his treasure provided a nice distraction while the Council attacked. The aftermath of the successful assault is Sauron moved to Mordor (Sauron's land in the Lord of the Rings).