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It was recently announced that filming for The Hobbit will begin on 21st March 2011.
For most films, such news is simply procedure, but for The Hobbit it is a minor miracle. The film has suffered so many problems during pre-production that some have suggested that the shoot is cursed. Whilst in the cast’s first press conference last week they laughed off the so-called “Curse of the Hobbit,” the film has undoubtedly been blighted by bad luck. Even the announcement of the film’s start date came just weeks after director Peter Jackson was admitted to hospital with a perforated stomach ulcer.
The film faced problems from the very beginning when MGM, who originally held the rights to the film, went into financial meltdown, which put the whole project into jeopardy. The lengthy delays that followed saw Guillermo Del Toro, who co-wrote the script for the film, step down from his position as director, in a move which he described as one of the hardest decisions he had ever had to make. Even after Peter Jackson had agreed to take over proceedings and Warner Brothers had taken over the film’s financing and distribution, the shoot was still in doubt after several actors’ unions in New Zealand boycotted the film - again endangering the future of it.
Eventually the government of New Zealand, acknowledging the importance of the film to its tourist industry, made a deal with Jackson to help end the boycott by clarifying the laws about workers’ rights, as well as offering another $15 million to help finance the project. This meant that finally, the occasional warehouse burning down aside, it looks like the way may be clear for the filming to actually begin.
Which is very exciting. The film, divided into two parts, will not only use The Hobbit as a source, but also some of Tolkien’s other writings on Middle Earth, in order to better bridge the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This means that the films will not only contain the expected returns of Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis and Hugo Weaving but also Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom (although the extent of their involvement is unknown). There are even some (possibly optimistic) whispers amongst nerdier circles that the film could involve a fight between Gandalf and Sauron (in his guise as a Necromancer) as a result. More importantly, however, is the fact that the film will use the same composer, cinematographer and writers (Del Toro aside) as LOTR, which will hopefully mean it’ll be every bit as good.
In addition to the old faces, there are a lot of new ones - many of which are British. As well as the ever-affable Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, the film will star Richard Armitage (Spooks, Robin Hood) as Thorin, the leader of the Company of Dwarves, who is The Hobbit’s equivalent (of sorts) to LOTR’s Aragorn. British TV’s James Nesbitt, Aidan Turner (Being Human), Robert Kazinksy (Eastenders), Ken Stott (Rebus) and Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who) will all also feature. There are also rumours that another former Doctor, David Tennant, has a role in the film.
Whilst The Hobbit is only making its first tentative steps towards its release at the end of 2012, the film has already been there and back again and I, for one, am sure the journey will be worth it.
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