After legal wrangling, issues of cinematic rights, back payments for the original trilogy resolved, it appears The Hobbit is finally ready to go before cameras…soon. Director Guillermo del Toro hit up the fan forums at The One Ring and offered the following:

“We may say what we want but until there are two scripts delivered and budgets and schedules to support them we will be all under a yellow light of development. THAT we have not stopped.

“As I have reported in the past, we are scouting, designing (my last 3 hour meeting with Weta was this morning) and will not stop. BUT the greenlight and thus commencement can only be granted by the studio. Pete as producer and me as director will do everything we can in the meantime.”

“Is there any trouble brewing with WB? Not at all. All I can say is that they reacted to our delivered script with great delight and we have been receiving strong support in our development.”

Source

Perhaps the best fan-made film yet created, The Hunt for Gollum, is a labor of love and the work of considerable skill.  While it looks like it was shot on a rather large budget, the reality is quite different: total outlay = $4,500.  The Hunt for Gollum takes place between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring and features some truly superb special effects. Most fascinating is that the director actually received the blessing of the Tolkien estate, who is allowing this film to be shown online as long as it stays entirely non-profit.

The DailyMotion is hosting the premier of the movie, which runs 40-minutes, in glorious HD.

Head here to be amazed.

HarperCollins has just announced they are making the words of fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien available in the e-book format. This marks the first time Tolkien’s works have been available as a legal e-book. Titles include The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, and The Children of Hurin. All titles will work with any e-book reader, including the Amazon Kindle.

Head here to learn more.

Now that The Hobbit movie has resolved some issues and is moving forward, one burning questions remains: will Ian McKellen reprise his role as Gandalf?
No official word has come down from the puppet-masters, but if Ian has his way, then the answer is yes, which is excellent news. Ian was asked by a fan of the trilogy if he would return and Ian responded with:

Encouragingly, Peter and Fran Walsh have told me they couldn’t imagine The Hobbit without their original Gandalf.  Their confidence hasn’t yet been confirmed by the director Guillermo del Toro but I am keeping my diary free for 2009!

So the ball is in Guillermo’s court. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll bring Ian back. If not, then we’ll need a second option. How about Will Ferrell? -ducks-