Fans of The Lord of the Rings will be thrilled to hear what Peter Jackson is saying these days about the possibility of a return to middle earth. Here’s what he had to say:
A slimmed-down Jackson, who arrived in Sydney yesterday, was asked today how long it would be before he started production on The Hobbit. “Three or four years would be accurate, I would say,” Jackson said.
The rights to J R R Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit, are split between two major Hollywood studios, MGM and New Line Cinema. Jackson said he was keen to return to Middle Earth for The Hobbit but that MGM’s sale to Sony Corporation made the project’s future unclear.
“I think there is probably a will and a desire to try and get it made,” he said. “But I think it’s gonna be a lot of lawyers sitting in a room trying to thrash out a deal before it will ever happen.”
I’ve always said that it was going to take time to get The Hobbit made… but also that pure greed will FORCE it to be made, no matter how many lawyers and rights holders there are. The Hobbit would be a guaranteed $300 million domestic box office. That’s a pie that can be split a lot of ways, and still be huge pieces.
Anyway, if you’re interested you can read the whole article and interview with Jackson here.
