Jackson says 'Hobbit' to be split into three movies

Strange how the shortest of all the books will become the longest of all the movies. Either way it should be great considering the way the Lord of the Rings turned out.

I like hobbits.

Of course, squeeze more money out of it all

Good. No one has read it once. Any who have read it have re-read it.

Fans can appreciate three films.

If it was any other director I'd say no way, but if it is Peter Jackson, then bring it on. Can't wait for the first installment.

Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Christopher Lee as Saruman, Elijah Wood as Frodo

WTF?

Those characters weren't even in The Hobbit!

Lord of the Rings: approx. 1,000 pages = 3 movies The Hobbit: approx. 300 pages = 3 movies? Way to stretch it out for a big cash grab.

Considering the amount of detail or story that was cut out in the original lord of the rings movies compared to the books I would actually argue that each one of the lord of the rings movies could have been broken up into three parts each.

Should be good, although money was probably a big factor in this decision. Quite frankly I'm tired of movies being split into pieces like this -- moreso because if you start watching it in 2013 you won't finish until about 2015. TV is the much better medium these days.

I don't think Peter is about the money... But his Hollywood bosses might be. In any case to make 2 or three movies, you have to write extra stories, which they must be doing.

This might push me over the edge to not seeing them. LOTR is a book that I have read many times and was really worried about seeing the movie version, that it would destroy my memories. But it was better than I expected. (Except they shouldn't have shown the Balrog. Leave some thing to the imagination, it's more powerful that way).

Maybe he'll do a good job with it, maybe I won't want to see it. 3 movies over 3 yrs sounds dumb.

Bored of The Rings- There's a movie I'd like to see, penfold. You may not know but the humor mag Natnl Lampoon published a book of that title that was a sendoff of LOTR, full of ridiculous jokes on the original and silly sex scenes. Very Funny. At least, when I was 12.

theatrical movies are not too long when moviegoers can stay until a movie ends. Ideally it is 1.40 hour or 2 hour.

i bet the battle at the end will be one and a half movie in itself.

I hope he lives long enough to make the Silmarillion possible. The Hobbit and LoTR would be nothing without the Silmarillion. ;)

The Silmarillion is far better left as a book, and I think anyone who has read it would agree....... It would be like making a movie out of the Bible!!!

So he will split a book over 3 movies.

Small problem the book is shorter than any of the 6 that make up the trilogy and he trimmed valuable elements out of those already.

Plus not much happened on middle Earth between the hobbit to the trilogy to fill the gap. Now if we go back to the silmarillion, etc books.

Still think PJ underplayed moria and shortened it too much.

Get ready to see a lot of flash backs to stretch these films.

Whatever happened to the intermission? Long movies like Gone With the Wind are almost impossible to watch without a bathroom break, and especially if you've be suckered into buying a giant fizzy drink. Of course if you wait for them to come on TV you'd get a (commercial) break every 10 mnutes whether you like it or not. Then it's a case of Vive la Fast Forward Button.

If each movie is kept to under 2 hours then it should be fine. 3+ hours not a good idea.

Strange how the shortest of all the books will become the longest of all the movies. Either way it should be great considering the way the Lord of the Rings turned out.

Yeah, how could that go wrong? It worked out great for Star Wars.

Galadriel, Saruman, Frodo, Legolas, and I bet they're going to find some way to sneak Sauron into the Mirkwood scene as "The Necromancer"...... Of course, that's what you do when you already have a successful movie....... create as many iconic links to it as possible.

I would try to make Elrond slightly different-looking from the LOTR version though..... I was always confused as a kid how Elrond was drawn with a beard in the Hobbit cartoon, as Elves can't grow beards, until I read The Silmarillion and found out he was half human.

If Jackson tempts the wrath of Tolkein fans and writes completely new material himself, it might be interesting to see something based on the Numenorean saga and the bloodline of Elrond and his brother.

i so have to see this in a big theatre, even if it's gonna cost me about one fourth of what i can spend in a month right now

This is good news. Sure the book was short (and I didn't particularly enjoy it), but if anyone can stretch it out into an entertaining three movies he can. I was watching a blu-ray of The Two Towers for the first time last week and time is already taking a toll on that trilogies CG effects, I'm really looking forwards to seeing how things have developed.

@Thomas Proskow like in the M@trix? Mister Baaagginnnsss

It is lord of the rings that could have been split in many more movies...

So he will split a book over 3 movies.

No. He will have new material written.

Plus not much happened on middle Earth between the hobbit to the trilogy to fill the gap.

Hence it will be written. I guess they should research it well though (i.e. reference the many other bits and pieces JRR T wrote about Middle Earth).

More money in box office.

The Hobbit has been shot at 48 frames per second instead of the normal 24. If the cinemas show it at 24, it will be very long indeed.

Money grab!!! Milk it!!!

The hobbit is the best book in the series IMHO, therefore it does deserve bigger attention than the rest. I wonder if they are not stretching it too thin though.

Why not? Earn 3 time$ a$ much !!!

I hope he lives long enough to make the Silmarillion possible.

That would be one boring movie!

I think movies made by this guy are a little too long in the tooth. King Kong, for example, had just too many extended fight scenes. Just my opinion, though. Hope these are a success.

Bored of the Rings

Yawn....nothing happens in the Hobbit really..... major desperate money squeeze here...