''The Hobbit'' is a
series
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used in ...
of three
epic high fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, ...
adventure films directed by
Peter Jackson. The films are subtitled ''
An Unexpected Journey'' (2012), ''
The Desolation of Smaug'' (2013), and ''
The Battle of the Five Armies'' (2014). The films are based on the 1937 novel ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
'' by
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
, with large portions of the trilogy inspired by the appendices to ''
The Return of the King
''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...
'', which expand on the story told in ''The Hobbit'', as well as new material and characters written especially for the films. Together they act as a
prequel to Jackson's
''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy.
The screenplays were written by
Fran Walsh
Dame Frances Rosemary Walsh (born 10 January 1959) is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer.
The partner of filmmaker Peter Jackson, Walsh has contributed to all of their films since 1989: as co-writer since '' Meet the Feebles'', and ...
,
Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and
Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct before his departure from the project. The films take place in the fictional world of
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...
sixty years before the beginning of ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'', and follow
hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-ear ...
(
Martin Freeman
Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Freeman's most not ...
), who is convinced by the
wizard Gandalf
Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Nor ...
the Grey (
Ian McKellen) to accompany
thirteen dwarves, led by
Thorin Oakenshield
Thorin Oakenshield (Thorin II) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel '' The Hobbit''. Thorin is the leader of the Company of Dwarves who aim to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the dragon. He is the son of Thráin I ...
(
Richard Armitage), on a quest to reclaim the
Lonely Mountain from the
dragon Smaug (voiced by
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence Oli ...
). The films expand upon certain elements from the novel and other source material, such as Gandalf's investigation at
Dol Guldur
Mirkwood is a name used for a great dark fictional forest in novels by Sir Walter Scott and William Morris in the 19th century, and by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 20th century. The critic Tom Shippey explains that the name evoked the excitement of t ...
which leads him to
the Necromancer, and the heroes' pursuit by the orcs Azog and Bolg, who seek vengeance against Thorin and
his kindred.
The films feature an
ensemble cast that includes
James Nesbitt
William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland.
From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...
,
Ken Stott
Kenneth Campbell Stott (born 19 October 1954) is a Scottish stage, television and film actor who won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1995 in the play '' Broken Glass'' at Royal National Theatre. He portrayed th ...
,
Evangeline Lilly,
Lee Pace
Lee Grinner Pace (born March 25, 1979) is an American actor. He is known for starring as Thranduil the Elvenking in ''The Hobbit'' trilogy and as Joe MacMillan in the AMC period drama television series '' Halt and Catch Fire''. He has also a ...
and
Luke Evans
Luke George Evans (born 15 April 1979) is a Welsh actor and singer. He began his career on the stage, performing in many of London's West End productions such as ''Rent'', ''Miss Saigon'', and '' Piaf'' before making his film breakthrough in ...
, with several actors reprising their roles from ''The Lord of the Rings'', including
Cate Blanchett,
Orlando Bloom,
Ian Holm,
Christopher Lee,
Hugo Weaving,
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012).
Woo ...
, and
Andy Serkis
Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Go ...
. The films also feature
Manu Bennett
Jonathan Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969) is a New Zealand actor. He is primarily known for portraying characters in epic fantasy works, such as Crixus in the TV series ''Spartacus'', Allanon in '' The Shannara Chronicles'', Slade Wilson / ...
,
Sylvester McCoy
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
,
Mikael Persbrandt,
Lawrence Makoare, and
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
. Returning for production, among others, were illustrators
John Howe and
Alan Lee, art director
Dan Hennah
Dan Hennah is a production designer from New Zealand who worked on ''The Lord of the Rings (film series), The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit (film series), The Hobbit'' films. He won an Oscar for ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the K ...
, cinematographer
Andrew Lesnie
Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC (1 January 1956 – 27 April 2015) was an Australian cinematographer. He was best known as the cinematographer for ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and its prequel ''The Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), bo ...
, and composer
Howard Shore, while props were again crafted by
Weta Workshop, with visual effects managed by
Weta Digital.
The first film in the trilogy premiered at the
Embassy Theatre in Wellington on 28 November 2012. 100,000 people lined the red carpet on
Courtenay Place, and the entire event was broadcast live on television in New Zealand and
streamed over the Internet. The second film of the series premiered at the
Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 2 December 2013. The final film premiered at the
Odeon Leicester Square
The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the ...
in London on 1 December 2014. The series received mixed reviews, but was a financial success and became
one of the highest-grossing film series of all time with $2.938 billion in worldwide receipts. It was
nominated for various awards and won several, although
not as many as the original trilogy.
Development
First stages of development
Jackson and Walsh originally expressed interest in filming ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
'' in 1995, then envisaging it as part one of a trilogy (parts two and three would have been based on ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
''). Frustration arose when Jackson's producer,
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
, discovered that
Saul Zaentz
Saul Zaentz (; February 28, 1921January 3, 2014) was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
Zaentz's film p ...
had production rights to ''The Hobbit'', but that distribution rights still belonged to
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
(which had kept those rights, believing that filmmakers would prefer to adapt ''The Hobbit'' rather than ''The Lord of the Rings''). The United Artists studio and its parent company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
were
for sale in the mid-1990s, but Weinstein's attempts to buy the movie rights from the studio were unsuccessful. Weinstein asked Jackson to press on with adapting ''The Lord of the Rings''. Ultimately, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was produced by
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
, not the Weinsteins, and their rights to film ''The Hobbit'' were set to expire in 2010.
In September 2006, the new ownership and management of MGM expressed interest in teaming up with New Line and Jackson to make ''The Hobbit''.
In March 2005, Jackson launched a lawsuit against New Line, claiming he had lost revenue from merchandising, video, and computer games releases associated with ''
The Fellowship of the Ring
''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by '' The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the ficti ...
''. He did not seek a specific settlement, but requested an
audit to see whether New Line had withheld money owed him.
Although Jackson wanted it settled before he would make the film,
he felt the lawsuit was minor and that New Line would still let him make ''The Hobbit''.
New Line co-founder
Robert Shaye
Robert Kenneth Shaye (born March 4, 1939) is an American businessman, film producer, actor, director, and writer. He is the founder of New Line Cinema, a film production studio that distributed films such as ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', ''Te ...
was annoyed with the lawsuit and said in January 2007 that Jackson would never again direct a film for New Line, accusing him of being greedy. MGM boss
Harry Sloan halted development, as he wanted Jackson to be involved.
By August, after a string of flops, Shaye tried to repair his relationship with the director. He said, "I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in ''The Hobbit''." The following month, New Line was fined $125,000 for failing to provide requested accounting documents.
On 16 December 2007, New Line and MGM announced that Jackson would be executive producer of ''The Hobbit'' and its sequel. The two studios would co-finance the film and the latter studio (via
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
) would distribute the film outside North America—New Line's first-ever such deal with another major studio. Each film's budget was estimated at US$150 million,
compared to the US$94 million budget for each of the films in Jackson's ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. After completion of the merger of New Line Cinema with
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
in February 2008, the two parts were announced as scheduled for release in December 2011 and 2012.
Producer
Mark Ordesky, the executive producer of ''The Lord of the Rings'', planned to return to supervise the prequels. Jackson explained he chose not to direct because it would have been unsatisfying to compete with his previous films.
In February 2008, the
Tolkien Estate (through
The Tolkien Trust, a British charity) and
HarperCollins Publishers filed a suit against New Line for
breach of contract and fraud and demanded $220 million in compensation for ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. The suit claimed New Line had only paid the Estate an upfront fee of $62,500, despite the trilogy's gross of an estimated $6 billion worldwide from box office receipts and merchandise sales. The suit claimed the Estate was entitled to 7.5% of all profits made by any Tolkien films, as established by prior deals. The suit sought to block the filming of ''The Hobbit''. The suit was settled in September 2009 for an undisclosed amount. However the Tolkien Trust's 2009 accounts show that it received payment from New Line Cinema of £24 million (a little over US$38 million). This amount was the Trust's estimated share in respect of the gross profit participation due for the films based on "The Lord of the Rings".
Christopher Tolkien
Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father ...
said: "The trustees regret that legal action was necessary but are glad that this dispute has been settled on satisfactory terms that will allow the Tolkien Trust properly to pursue its charitable objectives. The trustees acknowledge that New Line may now proceed with its proposed film of The Hobbit."
Development with del Toro
Despite the legal suits, development proceeded and in April 2008,
Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct the film. Del Toro has said he was a fan of Jackson's trilogy and had discussed directing
a film adaptation of ''Halo'' with him in 2005. Though that project stalled, they kept in contact.
In a 2006 interview, del Toro was quoted saying "I don't like little guys and
dragons, hairy feet,
hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...
s .... I don't like sword and sorcery, I hate all that stuff". After he signed on to direct in April 2008,
del Toro posted on
TheOneRing.net
Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fan (aficionado), fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''The Silmarillion''. The c ...
forums that he had been enchanted by ''The Hobbit'' as a child, but found that Tolkien's other books "contain
dgeography and genealogy too complex for my prepubescent brain". In taking the job of director, del Toro was now "reading like a madman to catch up with a whole new land, a continent of sorts—a
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
created by brilliant
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
turned
Shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...
". He wrote that his appreciation of Tolkien was enhanced by his knowledge of the fantasy genre, and the folklore research he had undertaken while making his own fantasy films.
Pre-production
Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...
began around August 2008, with del Toro, Jackson, Walsh and
Philippa Boyens writing the scripts. Del Toro collaborated with Jackson, Walsh and Boyens via
videoconferencing
Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio and video signals by people in different locations for real time communication.McGraw-Hill Concise Ency ...
and flew every three weeks, back and forth from Los Angeles (where some of the designs were done)
to New Zealand to visit them. Del Toro spent his mornings writing and afternoons looking at material related to Tolkien to help him understand the writer's work. He watched
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
documentaries and asked for book recommendations from Jackson, who is a collector of World War I memorabilia. Del Toro felt Tolkien's experiences in that war influenced his stories.
By November 2008, del Toro had said that he, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens would realise something new about the story every week and the script was continually changing. The writing hours increased to twelve each day, as they dedicated three weeks to finally deciding the films' structures.
During the first few months of 2009, writing would start from 8:30 am and end at 3:00 pm when del Toro would meet with Weta (i.e.,
Weta Workshop and
Weta Digital film effects companies). Completion of the story outlines and treatments ended in March 2009 and the studios approved the start of writing the screenplay.
Filming was expected to take place throughout 2010 in New Zealand, with del Toro renovating the
Hobbiton sets near
Matamata
Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which tak ...
.
For his part, Jackson had kept the
Rivendell
Rivendell ('' sjn, Imladris'') is a valley in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, representing both a homely place of sanctuary and a magical Elvish otherworld. It is an important location in '' The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of ...
scale model and the
Bag End
Bag End is the underground dwelling of the Hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novels '' The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings''. From there, both Bilbo and Frodo set out on their adventures, and both return ther ...
set (which he has used as a
guest house) from the trilogy.
During the middle of the shoot, there was expected to be a break which would have allowed del Toro to edit ''The Hobbit'' while sets would be altered for the second film. The director expected the shoot to last 370 days.
Jackson revealed in late November 2009 that he anticipated that the script for ''The Hobbit'' would not be finished until the beginning of 2010, delaying the start of production until the middle of that summer (several months later than previously anticipated).
The announcement created doubts about whether the film would make its previously announced release dates of December 2011 and December 2012.
Jackson reiterated that no casting decisions had been made.
On 22 January 2010,
Alan Horn
Alan Frederick Horn (born February 28, 1943) is an American entertainment industry executive. Horn became President and COO of Warner Bros. from 1999 to 2012. Horn next served as the chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 2012 to 2020. During his ...
said the first film would likely not be released until the fourth quarter of 2012.
Del Toro's interpretation
Del Toro and Jackson had a positive working relationship, in which they compromised on disagreements for the benefit of the film.
Del Toro believed he would be able to shoot the film himself, although Jackson noted he had similar hopes for filming all of his trilogy and offered to help as
second unit director. Del Toro planned on shooting the film in the trilogy's 2.35:1
aspect ratio, rather than his signature 1.85:1 ratio.
He hoped to collaborate again with cinematographer
Guillermo Navarro.
Del Toro shares Jackson's passion for scale models and background paintings,
though he wanted to increase the use of
animatronics; "We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap ten years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
."
Spectral Motion (''
Hellboy
Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...
'', ''
Fantastic Four'') was among those del Toro wanted to work with again.
Some characters would have been created by mixing
computer-generated imagery with animatronics and some would have been created solely with animatronics or animation. Gollum would be entirely digital again; as del Toro noted, "if it ain't broke, why fix it?"
Del Toro said that he interpreted ''The Hobbit'' as being set in a "world that is slightly more golden at the beginning, a very innocent environment", and that the film would need to "
akeyou from a time of more purity to a darker reality throughout the film, but
n a mannerin the spirit of the book".
He perceived the main themes as loss of innocence, which he likened to the experience of England
after World War I, and greed, which he said
Smaug and
Thorin Oakenshield
Thorin Oakenshield (Thorin II) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel '' The Hobbit''. Thorin is the leader of the Company of Dwarves who aim to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the dragon. He is the son of Thráin I ...
represent.
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-ear ...
reaffirms his personal morality during the story's third act as he encounters Smaug and the Dwarves' greed.
He added, "The humble, sort of a sturdy moral fibre that Bilbo has very much represents the idea that Tolkien had about the little English man, the average English man",
and the relationship between Bilbo and Thorin would be the heart of the film. The
Elves
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...
will also be less solemn.
Del Toro met concept artists
John Howe and
Alan Lee,
Weta Workshop head
Richard Taylor, and make-up artist Gino Acevedo in order to keep continuity with the previous films,
and he also hired comic book artists to complement Howe's and Lee's style on the trilogy,
including
Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', '' Abe Sapien'', '' Lobster Johnson'', '' Wit ...
and
Wayne Barlowe
Wayne Douglas Barlowe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, painter, and concept artist. Barlowe's work focuses on esoteric landscapes and creatures such as citizens of hell and alien worlds. He has painted over 300 book and magazi ...
, who began work around April 2009.
He has also considered looking at Tolkien's drawings and using elements of those not used in the trilogy.
As Tolkien did not originally intend for
the magic ring Bilbo finds to be the all-powerful talisman of evil it is revealed to be in ''The Lord of the Rings'', del Toro said he would address its different nature in the story, but not so much as to draw away from the story's spirit.
Each
Dwarf would need to look different from the others. Del Toro would have redesigned the
Goblins
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
and
Wargs and the
Mirkwood spiders would also have looked different from
Shelob
Shelob is a fictional demon in the form of a giant spider from J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Her lair lies in Cirith Ungol ("the pass of the spider") leading into Mordor. The creature Gollum deliberately leads the Hobbit prota ...
.
Del Toro felt the Wargs had to be changed because "the classical incarnation of the demonic wolf in
Nordic mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
is not a
hyena-shaped creature".
Del Toro also wanted the animals to speak so that Smaug's speech would not be incongruous, though he explained portraying the talking animals would be more about showing that other characters can understand them.
Smaug would not have a "snub
Simian outhin order to achieve a dubious lip-synch".
Del Toro stated that Smaug would be the first character design begun and the last to be approved.
Del Toro and Jackson considered the sudden introduction of
Bard the Bowman and Bilbo's unconsciousness during the Battle of the Five Armies to be "less cinematic moments" reminiscent of the novel's greater "fairy tale world" than ''The Lord of the Rings'', and they would change them to make ''The Hobbit'' feel more like the trilogy. However, del Toro did say he considered some of these moments iconic and would require the "fairy tale logic
owork as is".
Several actors were considered by del Toro for roles in the film. He wrote the part of
Beorn
Beorn is a fictional character created by J. R. R. Tolkien, and part of his Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in ''The Hobbit'' as a " skin-changer", a man who could assume the form of a great black bear. His descendants or kinsmen, a group ...
specifically for American actor
Ron Perlman. del Toro had originally considered asking Perlman to voice the dragon
Smaug, but decided against this.
Del Toro met with English actor
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer.
Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of '' I, Claudius'', King Richard I ...
to discuss the possibility of him playing
Thorin Oakenshield
Thorin Oakenshield (Thorin II) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel '' The Hobbit''. Thorin is the leader of the Company of Dwarves who aim to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the dragon. He is the son of Thráin I ...
. The director later stated that he thought
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (20 ...
"would make the most perfect dwarf". Frequent del Toro collaborator
Doug Jones said that he would love to play the Elvenking
Thranduil
Thranduil is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He first appears as a supporting character in '' The Hobbit'', where he is simply known as the Elvenking, the ruler of the Elves who lived in the woodland real ...
, but del Toro later stated that he had another role (or roles) in mind for the actor. Del Toro was the one who originally pushed to cast
Sylvester McCoy
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
as
Radagast the Brown, a choice Peter Jackson later followed. While del Toro initially wanted
Ian Holm to reprise the role of
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-ear ...
, he also said that he "absolutely" supported the casting of
Martin Freeman
Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Freeman's most not ...
as the character, and wanted all other returning ''
Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'' characters to be played by the original actors where possible.
In December 2012, Philippa Boyens expressed regret that del Toro's version of the film remained unmade. She revealed that it would have had a different script and visual elements, and would more closely have resembled a
fairy tale. Boyens stated that the most significant script change was to Bilbo's characterisation: "It shifted and changed into someone who, rather than being slightly younger and more innocent in the world, once had a sense of longing for adventure and has lost it and become fussy and fusty."
Del Toro's departure
In 2010, del Toro left the project because of ongoing delays. On 28 May he explained at a press conference that owing to MGM's financial troubles the ''Hobbit'' project had then not been officially
green-lit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
at the time. "There cannot be any start dates until the MGM situation gets resolved .... We have designed all the creatures. We've designed the sets and the wardrobe. We have done
animatics
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in t ...
and planned very lengthy action sequences. We have scary sequences and funny sequences and we are very, very prepared for when it's finally triggered, but we don't know anything until MGM is solved." Two days later, del Toro announced at
TheOneRing.net
Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fan (aficionado), fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''The Silmarillion''. The c ...
that "In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming", he would "take leave from helming", further stating that "the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. ... I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director". Reports began to surface around the Internet about possible directors; apparently the studios wanted Jackson, but such names as
Neill Blomkamp
Neill Blomkamp (; born 17 September 1979) is a South African filmmaker. He employs a documentary-style, hand-held, cinéma vérité technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer-generated effects, and his films often deal wit ...
,
Brett Ratner
Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, '' The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several film ...
,
David Yates and
David Dobkin were mentioned.
However, this incident received negative reaction from many ''Hobbit'' fans, who were angry at MGM for delaying the project. They also tried willing the studio to sell their rights to Warner Bros. On 27 July, del Toro responded to these angry fans, saying that "it wasn't just MGM. These are very complicated movies, economically and politically."
On 25 June 2010, Jackson was reported to be in negotiations to direct the two-part film. On 15 October 2010,
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
confirmed that ''The Hobbit'' was to proceed filming with Jackson as director and that the film would be in
3D. As well as confirming Jackson as director, the film was reported to be
greenlit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
, with principal photography to begin in February 2011.
Jackson stated that "Exploring Tolkien's
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...
goes way beyond a normal film-making experience. It's an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama."
Jackson had said that del Toro's sudden exit created problems as he felt he had a very little preparation time remaining before shooting had to begin, with unfinished scripts and without
storyboards
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in th ...
, which increased the difficulty to direct it.
Jackson stated, "Because Guillermo del Toro had to leave and I jumped in and took over, we didn't wind the clock back a year and a half and give me a year and a half prep to design the movie, which was different to what he was doing. It was impossible, and as a result of it being impossible I just started shooting the movie with most of it not prepped at all. You're going on to a set and you're winging it, you've got these massively complicated scenes, no storyboards and you're making it up there and then on the spot". Jackson also said, "I spent most of ''The Hobbit'' feeling like I was not on top of it. Even from a script point of view, Fran
alsh Philippa
oyensand I hadn't got the entire scripts written to our satisfaction, so that was a very high pressure situation".
However, Jackson goes on to explain in the DVD/Blu-ray featurettes the various ways in which he and his crew overcame the obstacles encountered during filming. They found ways of making things work, even in a "very high pressure situation" in which he and his crew found themselves, especially the shooting of the Battle of the Five Armies which was shifted from 2012 to 2013 to be properly planned and shot.
Industrial dispute in New Zealand
In May 2010, New Zealand Actors Equity (NZAE) received from the film's producers a sample of the contracts it was offering to actors'
agents.
NZAE rejected the contracts as not conforming to its voluntary standard, in particular as regarded
residuals.
NZAE's parent, the Australia-based
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, contacted the
International Federation of Actors
The International Federation of Actors (french: Federation Internationale des Acteurs, FIA) is a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing actors.
History
The federation was established in 1952, on the initiative of Brit ...
, which on 24 September 2010, issued a Do Not Work order, advising members of its affiliates (including the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
) that "The producers ... have refused to engage performers on union-negotiated agreements." This would subject actors who work on the film to possible expulsion from the union.
In response,
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
and
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
considered taking the production elsewhere, with Jackson mentioning the possibility of filming in Eastern Europe.
Partly out of fear for the
Tolkien tourism effect, on 25 October 2010, thousands of New Zealanders organised
protest rallies imploring that production remain in New Zealand, arguing that shifting production to locations outside New Zealand would potentially cost the country's economy up to $1.5 billion.
After two days of talks with the New Zealand government (including involvement by Prime Minister
John Key
Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...
), Warner Bros. executives decided on 27 October to film ''The Hobbit'' in New Zealand as originally planned. In return, the government agreed to introduce legislation to remove the right of workers to organise
trade unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
in the film production industry and to give money to big budget films made in New Zealand. The legislation reversed a decision by the New Zealand Supreme Court called ''
Bryson v Three Foot Six Ltd'' holding that under the
Employment Relations Act 2000, a model maker named Mr Bryson was an "employee" who could organise a union to defend his interests. The Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill was introduced on 28 October 2010 after an urgency motion, allowing it to pass its final readings the next day, 66 votes in favour to 50 opposed. The government's legislation has been criticised as breaching the
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
's core
ILO Convention 87 on
freedom of association
Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline mem ...
, and giving an unfair subsidy to protect multinational business interests.
Some have subsequently called the price (further financial subsidies and specific laws made for the producers' benefit) that New Zealand had to pay to retain the movie 'extortionate'. It was also argued that the discussion had occurred in a climate of 'hyperbole and hysteria'.
In February 2013, emails and documents released under orders of the
Ombudsman showed that the union representing actors had already reached an agreement with Warner two days before 20 October protest, but Warner refused to confirm the deal publicly. One union representative said those on the march were 'patsies' that had been fooled into thinking the production would be taken offshore. Further emails released showed Government ministers knew a deal had been reached a week before the protest, despite claiming negotiations were still happening.
From two to three films
The project had been envisaged as two parts as early as 2006, but the proposed contents of the parts changed during development.
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
expressed interest in a second film in 2006, set between ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. Jackson concurred, stating that "one of the drawbacks of ''The Hobbit'' is it's relatively lightweight compared to ''LOTR''
'The Lord of the Rings''.... There's a lot of sections in which a character like Gandalf disappears for a while – he references going off to meet with the
White Council
Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Nors ...
, who are actually characters like
Galadriel
Galadriel (IPA: Help:IPA, �aˈladri.ɛl is a Character (arts), character created by J. R. R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth writings. She appears in ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion'', and ''Unfinished Tales''.
She ...
and
Saruman and people that we see in ''Lord of the Rings''. He mysteriously vanishes for a while and then comes back, but we don't really know what goes on."
Jackson was also interested in showing
Gollum
Gollum is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 fantasy novel '' The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, '' The Lord of the Rings''. Gollum was a Stoor Hobbit of the R ...
's journey to
Mordor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, Mordor (pronounced ; from Sindarin ''Black Land'' and Quenya ''Land of Shadow'') is the realm and base of the evil Sauron. It lay to the east of Gondor and the great river Anduin, an ...
and
Aragorn
Aragorn is a fictional character and a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider and later revealed to be the heir of Isildur, an ancient King of Ar ...
setting a watch on the
Shire.
After his hiring in 2008, del Toro confirmed the sequel would be about "trying to reconcile the facts of the first movie with a slightly different point of view. You would be able to see events that were not witnessed in the first."
He also noted the story must be drawn from only what is mentioned in ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', as they do not have the rights to ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
'' and ''
Unfinished Tales''. Del Toro also added (before writing began) that if they could not find a coherent story for the second film, they would just film ''The Hobbit'', stating "''The Hobbit'' is better contained in a single film and kept brisk and fluid with no artificial 'break point'." By November 2008, he acknowledged that the book was more detailed and eventful than people may remember. He decided to abandon the "bridge film" concept, feeling that it would be better for the two parts to contain only material from ''The Hobbit'':
Del Toro said that he was faced with two possible places to split the story,
including Smaug's defeat. He noted the second film would need to end by leading directly into ''
The Fellowship of the Ring
''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by '' The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the ficti ...
''. In June 2009, del Toro revealed he had decided where to divide the story based on comments from fans about signifying a change in Bilbo's relationship with the dwarves. The second film's story would also have depended on how many actors could have reprised their roles.
Although ''The Hobbit'' was originally made as a two-part film, on 30 July 2012, Jackson confirmed plans for a third film, turning his adaptation of ''The Hobbit'' into a trilogy.
According to Jackson, the third film would make extensive use of the appendices that Tolkien wrote to expand the story of
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...
(published in the back of ''The Return of the King''). While the third film, which as its title indicates, depicts the Battle of the Five Armies, largely made use of footage originally shot for the first and second films, it required additional filming as well. The second film was retitled ''The Desolation of Smaug'' and the third film was titled ''There and Back Again'' in August 2012.
On 24 April 2014, the third film was renamed ''The Battle of the Five Armies''. On the title change, Jackson said, "''There and Back Again'' felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo's arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived "there" in the ''Desolation of Smaug''". Shaun Gunner, the chairman of
The Tolkien Society, supported the decision: "‘''The Battle of the Five Armies''’ much better captures the focus of the film but also more accurately channels the essence of the story."
Cast
The following is a list of cast members who voiced or portrayed characters appearing in ''
The Hobbit
''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...
'' films.
Casting
Martin Freeman
Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Freeman's most not ...
was cast in early October 2010 in the role of
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-ear ...
. He had earlier turned the role down because of scheduling conflicts with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. On his casting, Peter Jackson was quoted as saying, "Despite the various rumours and speculation surrounding this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us. There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin Freeman. He is intelligent, funny, surprising and brave—exactly like Bilbo and I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce that he is our Hobbit."
were cast later that October. On the casting of Armitage, Jackson was quoted as saying, "Richard is one of the most exciting and dynamic actors working on screen today and we know he is going to make an amazing Thorin Oakenshield. We cannot wait to start this adventure with him and feel very lucky that one of the most beloved characters in Middle Earth is in such good hands."
McTavish was quoted on his casting, "I think that I would be very lucky indeed if ever again in my career, I was offered an opportunity that was going to be so iconic in its influence and scale with regards to ''The Hobbit''. I can't think of anything comparable." On the casting of Turner, Jackson stated, "Aidan is a wonderfully gifted young actor who hails from Ireland. I'm sure he will bring enormous heart and humor to the role of Kíli."
On the casting of Hadlow, Jackson said, "I have worked with Mark Hadlow on many projects
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