So it looks like for the new Lord of the Rings movie, they’re ripping off Star Wars and doing the whole prequel thing. They’ll be hard pressed to make something better than The Phantom Menace though, am I right? That being said this trailer actually makes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey look pretty good for a shameless Harry Potter clone. I might have to check it out.

After directorial casting woes, a near workers strike, MGM’s bankruptcy, and even a studio fire; the primary actors, screenwriters, and director of both installments of The Hobbit have had their first script read-through at the Stone Studio’s location of the interior of Bag End. According to Ian McKellen, “having Jackson and co-screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens inviting comments on their script so far ‘is as close to bliss as an actor can get.’” >>>Pics at The Mary Sue.

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(pic via Fashionably Geek.)

Hobbit director Peter Jackson was hospitalized last night with a stomach ulcer. He has already undergone surgery for the perforated ulcer, and according to a statement issued by his spokesman, Jackson’s surgery and recovery will only cause a slight delay to the filming of The Hobbit.

As stuff.co.nz notes, Hobbit and Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien died at age 81 after he was diagnosed with a bleeding gastric ulcer.

We wish Jackson the speediest of recoveries.

(via stuff.co.nz. title pic via Wikipedia)

He’s Gandalf and Magneto, and we will never get over it.

(via Reddit.)

Perhaps in response to the latest set of fan waverings about the film, the filming location for which is still uncertain, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, and director Peter Jackson have officially announced a good chunk of the cast for The Hobbit.

Per the casting rumors we passed on last week, Martin Freeman will be playing Bilbo Baggins. David Tennant, Jimmy Nesbit, and Michael Fassbinder, rumored to be under consideration for roles unspecified, have not been confirmed, nor have Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf or Andy Serkis as Gollum. But good news, everybody! Now we know the actors who are going to play a bunch of dwarves.

It’s for real now, no backsies: MGM has finally given the goahead on The Hobbit, a movie plagued by years of pre-production anguish, involving studio bankruptcy, labor disputes, a director search, and even fire.

Well, the film is being given a budget of $500 million, Peter Jackson is directing, and according to The Coventry Telegraph, even MGM’s financial problems can no longer get in the way:

MGM is finding its share of the project’s funding from external sources and, if that fails, Warner Bros has pledged to step in and lend the money to MGM.

So the only thing left unmentioned by New Line Cinema‘s press release is whether the film will continue to be shot in New Zealand, where localized pre-production work (like the rebuilding of Hobbiton) has already begun; or if actors labor disputes will cause the production to move to Europe.

Peter Jackson will very likely direct both parts of The Hobbit himself, according to Deadline New York. And their corroborating evidence looks solid:

[Jackson], Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens scheduled a trip to London the week of July 4, followed by a trip to Los Angeles the following week, to meet the most impressive actors who’ve been put on tape by casting directors… But if someone else was directing, wouldn’t that filmmaker be brought aboard before those casting decisions were made?

Deadline also pointed out that while several directors had expressed interest in the project, no announcement was made, perhaps indicating that Jackson was thinking over just doing the movies himself, the first choice for director, Guillermo del Toro, no longer has time to direct the many-times-delayed production.

So, Peter Jackson is going to make The Hobbit. We’re… actually kind of disappointed.

In what will be seen as a heartbreaker by many fans and a major setback by the rest, Guillermo del Toro announced today that he will no longer be directing the Hobbit movie. Speaking to fan community TheOneRing.net, del Toro cited scheduling problems as his main reason for departing.

“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life”, says Guillermo. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wlsh the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director”.

Read on...

Ian McKellen‘s, erm… quaint official site has confirmed that Guillermo del Toro‘s The Hobbit will begin filming in New Zealand this June July.

The Hobbit’s, two films, start shooting in New Zealand in June.  Filming will take over a year. Casting in Los Angeles, New York City and London has started.

Update: McKellen has since changed his webpage to read “July.”

Considering the length of the shoot (and IMDB) Part I will probably release in 2012, and the films will likely be shot at the same time, just like LotR before them.