Maybe Jackson directing this is NOT out of the question (we can always hope).

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20036782_20037403_20142132,00.html

If he makes it I hope he stays more true to the story than he did with LOTR. I understand the need to change things around in such a massive undertaking, and there was so much story to fit into even three films. But The Hobbit is a much simpler tale and shouldn't need as much tweaking.

If he makes it I hope he stays more true to the story than he did with LOTR. I understand the need to change things around in such a massive undertaking, and there was so much story to fit into even three films. But The Hobbit is a much simpler tale and shouldn't need as much tweaking.

Agreed, The Hobbit should be a much easier translation to the "big screen" than LOTR was. I though Jackson did an admirable job on LOTR... I had a great fear that the movies would not stay even remotely true to the books. Considering the herculean task, I was pleasantly surprised at the movie series.

To do LOTR justice there should have probably been three movies to EACH of the books in the trilogy.

The lord of the rings trilogy is and has always been my favorite..
I am a bit of a freak when it comes to these movies. I have read all the books but the Hobbit was my favorite.
With Jackson at the helm of this one I really hope they stay true to the book more. The LOTR serious was fabulous and well done...more could have been added and such but how many hours to you really want to sit?
Can't wait for the dispute and filming to roll.
I need more toons for my collection. hehe

http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/3213/1001307aq0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2567/1001308tg3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/1879/lordoftheringiy2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Like everyone else here, I really hope that if The Hobbit is done, that it is produced with the same artistry as LOTR. My copies of the 4 books are quite old (cover price of .95 each) and well read.

The movies don't do the books justice.
The movies are well done and would like to see how they do the hobbit and all the scenery and story line.

The movies don't do the books justice.True, but I don't think there's any way around that. I mean, with an unlimited budget and massive technical support I could probably make 3 films that would have been better for me, but would have been farther off for someone else. One of the great things about reading LOTR is how it makes you visualize everything, but then everyone visualizes differently, so no matter how the films are made they're not going to match more than one person's mental image of what the characters and landscapes look like.

The story, on the other hand, can be held to a much higher standard. One of my favorite chapters is "The Scouring of the Shire" -- in it we see how much the hobbits have grown as a result of their adventures. I thought it contained the most powerful message of all the books, yet Jackson chose to ignore it entirely. That was a big mistake, IMO.

I had understood that Jackson had filmed some of the Shire storyline... and it ended up on the cutting room floor. A part of the whole LOTR saga that was "missed", I agree.