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Peter Jackson Hints At The Hobbit

Hellboy0101 writes "News.com.au is reporting that New Line Cinema is currently in talks to purchase the rights to the film adaptation of The Hobbit. There are apparently some difficulties with getting the go ahead from Tolkien's son Christopher, who is executor of the estate. When asked if New Line has approached him about the project, Jackson said he has not ruled it out, but not until after King Kong is done. 'New Line, which spent $US300million ($415 million) making the films, is already planning to continue its Rings success with an adaptation of Tolkien's novel The Hobbit. More difficulties with the Tolkien estate were looming, said Jackson, who added that he would be keen to get involved after he finishes remaking King Kong in 2006. "New Line haven't actually talked to me about The Hobbit. I know there's difficulty about the rights, certainly if they want to talk to me about it I'd be keen," he said.'"

56 of 721 comments (clear)

  1. ATTN: PETER JACKSON by r_glen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Learn from the mistakes of others and leave while you're on top! Besides, the animated version of The Hobbit is already a gem.
    (Although if you must... you have my sword)

    1. Re:ATTN: PETER JACKSON by thdougherty · · Score: 5, Funny

      And my axe!

    2. Re:ATTN: PETER JACKSON by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 5, Informative

      Besides, the animated version of The Hobbit is already a gem.

      Have you ever seen the damned thing? I have to admit I think it got the mood right, but man, those misshapen heads- and they really screwed up the elves! They were like little gremlins! The cartoon creators were obviously thinking of the elves that live up at the North Pole making presents for Santa. That's the wrong kind of elf. Although they did refrain from skateboarding down stairs while shooting arrows. That's one thing they did get right.

    3. Re:ATTN: PETER JACKSON by ShadyG · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You ever notice Gimli says this right after he's finished shattering his axe in a vain attempt to cleave the Ring?

    4. Re:ATTN: PETER JACKSON by tbmaddux · · Score: 4, Informative
      You ever notice Gimli says this right after he's finished shattering his axe in a vain attempt to cleave the Ring?
      Watch the extended edition of FOTR; in one of the documentary segments Rhys-Davies goes through his axe arsenal. He carries around seven of them.
      --
      Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?
    5. Re:ATTN: PETER JACKSON by RedWizzard · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you watch carefully you'll notice that Gimli grabs (and shatters) the axe of the dwarf sitting next to him. He's one smart dwarf, that Gimli.

  2. Hinting at the Hobbit? by mikeophile · · Score: 4, Funny
    Is that some kind of euphemism?

    Like beating the Bishop?

    1. Re:Hinting at the Hobbit? by geekoid · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, but now I am going to do my best to make it one.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Hinting at the Hobbit? by fenix+down · · Score: 5, Funny

      Uh oh. I've been using that one for taking a dump. Perhaps this explains some of those looks...

  3. My personal opinion by Penguinshit · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've read everything Tolkien many times over. While I didn't feel the Jackson movies were completely honest to the books, I can understand his explanation regarding pacing and whatnot as it applies to the visual medium.

    I really enjoyed the first two of the Trilogy, and am very much looking forward to the third.

    If Jackson wants to take on The Hobbit, I'd be very interested in seeing the resulting work.

    1. Re:My personal opinion by buffer-overflowed · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yea, and then... the Silmarillion.

      Tolkien's rewrite of the bible, spoken in elvish. Mel Gibson is slated for involvement, I hear.

      --
      The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
  4. Seems odd by Hi_2k · · Score: 4, Funny

    It seems really strange that The Hobbit, a story about a 3 foot tall theif, is considered a bigger event than the story of a 50 foot tall gorrilla.

    I Guess size doesnt matter.

    --
    When life gives you crap, Make Crapade.
    Sluggy Freelance.
  5. Keen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The 50's called. They want their lingo back.

    1. Re:Keen? by thdexter · · Score: 5, Funny

      Proper English called. They want their apostrophe back.

      (Apostrophes, you recall, are for OWNERSHIP.)

      --
      I'm on a road shaped like a figure eight; I'm going nowhere but I'm guaranteed to be late.
    2. Re:Keen? by Decaffeinated+Jedi · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, apostrophes can also denote missing (or missin') letters/characters. So, the proper way to refer to the decade would be the '50s.

      --
      DecafJedi
      my weblog: apropos of something
    3. Re:Keen? by Babbster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Exactly. This works much like 'tude (attitude), 'em (them), or 'blishmentarianism' (establishmentarianism).

  6. Please, no hobbit! by Azadre · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If he does this, he'll ruin a children's classic. LOTR was okay because they were for a wider audience. However, The Hobbit is more about imagination and every child will get a different interpretation. A film puts out one interpretation thus squashing imagination.

    1. Re:Please, no hobbit! by mcpkaaos · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If he does this, he'll ruin a children's classic... A film puts out one interpretation thus squashing imagination.

      So? That's generally the situation with any movie adapted from a book. Movies written from pre-existing works are based on another's perception of that work, never a direct expression of the work itself (unless, I suppose, the author of that work participates in the film-making. In which case the movie will still by slightly influenced by the director's interpretation). Besides, I wouldn't necessarily rule out the possibility that the same children you think are reading The Hobbit are also reading the LOTR books. In any case, they'll still get the full value of the books if they are read, and still much of the story if they just watch the movies instead without ever reading them. Either way the story is told, which is the important thing.

      It's like that version of Romeo and Juliet we all had to watch in middle school. It was a pretty loose interpretation of Shakespeare, but for those that would have never read it on their own, it atleast instilled a good sense of the work.

      --
      It goes from God, to Jerry, to me.
    2. Re:Please, no hobbit! by Penguinshit · · Score: 5, Insightful

      actually, if the movie is tailored for a wide audience (PG-13) then most kids will get a chance to read the book before they're old enough to see the movie.

      When I was seeing the "The Two Towers", before the movie started, my wife and I started talking to this young girl (must have been under 8) who was there with her mother. She was seated in front of us and doing the usual young child sit-backward-in-the-seat-and-gape-at-strangers trick. We asked her if she'd seen the first movie; she said yes. We asked her if she liked it; she said yes. I asked her if she liked reading the books (hell, I first read them when I was about her age) and she replied, "Oh no, I don't have to read the books - my mom is buying the DVD!".

      I didn't know who to slap - the little girl or her mother.

    3. Re:Please, no hobbit! by drkich · · Score: 5, Insightful

      An author was once asked about a film adaptation of his movie that was just awefull. The person making the comment said that they ruined the book.

      On the contrary said the author, my book still exists in its original form. Nothing has changed except that a new movie was made.

    4. Re:Please, no hobbit! by dandelion_wine · · Score: 4, Interesting

      All fine and well to play devil's advocate, especially when it makes the other guy seem narrow-minded.

      But speaking from personal experience, if I ever had a mental image of the Kwisatz Haderach, it's long since morphed into Kyle MacLachlan. And I must have read LOTR... (lets not exaggerate here...) say 20 times. I'm positive I had a mental image of Frodo. What was it? I have no idea.

      Is it really all that earth-shattering to admit that movies tend to burn an image into one's mind in a way that overpowers the changeable visions of the imagination? (that being said, I don't know how many times -- always a surprise -- in the past month I've thought I saw something on tv or in a movie and realized that I read it and the mental image is so strong I could swear I saw it somewhere till I remembered the source. That, however, does not diminish the argument that an external visual representation of the same thing couldn't extinguish that mental image)

      Personally, I'd like to see P.Jackson's version for the sake of consistency of vision, not because I'm mentally lazy (though I am most assuredly that, paraphrased the man, er, Dude). That and to prevent Bakshi from wreaking more ruin.

    5. Re:Please, no hobbit! by tbmaddux · · Score: 4, Insightful
      If he does this, he'll ruin a children's classic... A film puts out one interpretation thus squashing imagination.
      On the other hand, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" didn't ruin anything for me.
      --
      Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?
    6. Re:Please, no hobbit! by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Oh, please. Peter Jackson captured the whimsical nature of Hobbiton and that first half of Fellowship of the Ring perfectly. Every scene between Gandalf and Bilbo was magic. It'd just be that same tone throughout the Hobbit, with hints of the darker world to come in the LOTR trilogy.

      It would, quite frankly, rock.

      --
      "Sufferin' succotash."
    7. Re:Please, no hobbit! by AuMatar · · Score: 4, Insightful
      When did this fixation that books were somehow 'superior' to visual media first come into vogue? I've seen some very moving movies in my time, and read some awful books.


      Because they are. Movies are limited to only 2 of he five senses. They're also limiited to the time people are willing to sit in a theater, the amount of money in the budget, the technical capabilites at the time of production, the abilities of the cast and crew, the interpretation of the dirctor, etc.

      Books have no such limitation. The only limitations are the imagination of the reader and the ability of the author. They have far more room to grow and explore than movies do. Concepts that would utterly fail in a cramped media like film can work when powered by your imagination. And unlike movies, who's effects get dated, the power of the written word never fades.

      You may find a few so-so books turned into decent movies. And you may find an adaptation that makes you look at something differently. But you will never find a good or great book that is surpassed by a movie version.
      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  7. Gandalf aging backwards? by kutuz_off · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If they plan to do it, they better do it quick. The only (I believe) common character of the trilogy and the Hobbit is Gandalf. Ian McKellen isn't getting any younger.

    1. Re:Gandalf aging backwards? by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

      The Hobbit story happens before the Rings story, so maybe they could get Ewan McGregor to play Obi-wan.

      --
      I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
    2. Re:Gandalf aging backwards? by Hi_2k · · Score: 4, Funny

      well, Bilbo would seem to be another, but he's really not important to the story.

      --
      When life gives you crap, Make Crapade.
      Sluggy Freelance.
    3. Re:Gandalf aging backwards? by Mr_Icon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Gandalf is not a man -- he is istari, an immortal Maya (sort of a "lesser god"). He came to Middle Earth a few thousand years before the action of LOTR takes place and he was already old back then, considering he's been around in one shape or the other since the creation of Arda. :)

      See more here: Encyclopedia of Arda

      Damn... Did I just fail the geek outing test?

      --
      If you open yourself to the foo, You and foo become one.
  8. LOTR actors by Xpilot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder if they can all get Ian Holme, Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis to reprise their roles as Bilbo, Gandalf, Agent Elrond and Gollum. It would be cool if it were kept consistant with LOTR.

    --
    "Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
    1. Re:LOTR actors by mclove · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I think Ian Holm might be a little too old... I mean yes, they *could* make him look younger with makeup (as they did for the flashback in FotR), but the man's 72 and pulling that look off for the entire movie would be rather difficult. PJ doesn't seem like the sort of director who'd jump through hoops for the sake of preserving a tiny bit of extra consistency with the trilogy.

      Andy Serkis, on the other hand... I can't imagine anyone else playing Gollum now. And just think of it, a crowded theater sometime in the winter of 2009, Bilbo in a cave, then a familiar CGI face and the first whisper of "Precious"... think of the beginning of the opening crawl for Episode 1 (when we didn't know how badly it would suck) and multiply it by 10 and that's what you'll get.

      And of course we have to have Ian McKellen playing Gandalf too, simply because he loves doing it and there's no one better out there for the role.

    2. Re:LOTR actors by professorhojo · · Score: 5, Funny

      > I wonder if they can all get... Andy Serkis

      if?

      i think he's already waiting in the studio carpark.

      prof.

  9. Please, oh please... by mikeophile · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do not let that guy with the prehensile uvula mangle the song The Road Goes Ever On like he did in the Rankin/Bass cartoon.

  10. hmmm by Wordsmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I wasn't clear from the summary, but are you saying there's some sort of difficulty with getting the rights from the estate? Or that he'll wait until after King Kong? I think you need to repeat it maybe 6-7 more times, just to be sure.

  11. For the Community by CaptainCarrot · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From the article: If he can't have a museum, Jackson wants a bronze statue of the film's characters in Wellington to thank the people of New Zealand for their support - and the $NZ300 million ($265 million) tax break they gave the producers. "We have appealed to (the Tolkien estate) at various times to do something for the community but they keep saying no," Jackson said.

    Someone should tell Jackson that there's a whole lot you can do for a community besides put up a museum or a monument to what you did with their tax break, and it need not even be an eyesore like that statue he wants. How about building parks and playgrounds? Contributing to local health programs? Financial aid for economically depressed areas? Charities? Libraries? Help for schools?

    These and a whole lot of others are ways to give back to the community in ways that really help. And they don't require the permission of the Tolkien estate either.

    --
    And the brethren went away edified.
    1. Re:For the Community by redink1 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I have my doubts that a statue and a museum devoted to the props from a single movie, no matter how popular that movie was at the time it was released, could be that much of a draw.

      I would be forced to agree with you with nearly any movie (or series of movies) such as The Matrix, Star Wars, Titanic, and what not... but not The Lord of the Rings.

      If you happened to catch the extra features on the Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring (and to a lesser extent The Two Towers), you'd see that they made literally tens of thousands of swords, pieces of armor, costumes, helmets, everything. Heck, every dang mug from the Prancing Pony was custom made.

      And then there are the Uber Cool 'Bigatures', like the two towers, the Black Gate, and others, not to mention the various sculptures of Gollum and Treebeard.

      Weta Workshop's work is utterly amazing, and if I had any reason to go near New Zealand or Australia, I'd definately stop at that museum.

    2. Re:For the Community by IshanCaspian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The guy's a filmmaker giving the equivalent of a giant thank-you card, not a civil servant.

      --

      But there is another kind of evil that we must fear most... and that is the indifference of good men.
  12. the Hobbit will be better than LOTR by myc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the Hobbit, in a screenplay more true to the original book, will work better on film than LoTR, because it's a far shorter and more self-contained story that will translate to the big screeen more effectively. It's not as deep as LoTR, and will appeal to children. Because it has the potential to be more true to the books, the diehards will be happy, and new fans will also enjoy the simpler storyline.

    Remember the animated version? It was really goood! I'd imagine that a live action version, using WETA's technology, could potentially be even better.

    --
    NO CARRIER
  13. Re:Details, please? by Hungus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Chris Tolkien Gaurds his Father's properties like Smaug Dwarven gold and mithril. The attitudes seem similar too. He single handedly put Iron Crown into bankrupcy by jacking up the licencing costs a couple of years ago, even going so far as to have the printed works seized and destroyed even though they were printed and delivered while still under license. Of course this is all old news to any of my fellow Rolemaster / MERP players.

    --
    Bad Panda! No Bamboo for you! In matters of importance ACs will not be responded to. Want to say something critical,OK
  14. A good launching for Jar-Jaromir by downix · · Score: 4, Funny

    The fabled new character from Return of the King would be an ideal inclusion on this new Hobbit movie. 8)

    --
    Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
  15. Re:Details, please? by veddermatic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe he saw an advanced copy of Cat in the Hat and realized that people will destroy your loved one's creations to make really shitty stuff to get marketing gigs and product tie-ins.

    --
    Department of Homeland Security: Removing the rights real patriots fought and died for since 2001
  16. i Arriba ! by Angram · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Gandalf is not a man -- he is istari, an immortal Maya"

    I didn't realize that wizards were from Mexico.



    (...It's Maia.)

    --

    GL
  17. You are in a comfortable tunnel like hall by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You are in a comfortable tunnel like hall.
    to the east there is the round green door.
    you see:
    the wooden chest.
    Gandalf. Gandalf is carrying
    a curious map.
    Thorin.
    Gandalf gives the curious map to you.
    Thorin says " Hurry up "

    > HIT THORIN

    You attack Thorin.
    But the effort is wasted. His defense is too strong.
    Thorin attacks you.
    With one well place blow Thorin cleaves your skull.
    You are dead.
    You have mastered 0.0% of this adventure.

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
  18. King Kong Bomb by Simonetta · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Director Peter Jackson has been given $400 million US to remake the classic movie 'King Kong'. Excuse me, but this is insane...

    The remake is being done on the strength of Mr. Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, which has sold (or will have sold in a few months time) over a billion dollars US in box office tickets after costing roughly $200 million to make and promote worldwide. Impressive, yes.
    The Lord of the Rings is a dense multi-volume fully realized fantasy that has offered a rich complex story and hundreds of opportunities for using state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery to complement the plot into a strong, enveloping film fantasy.
    But $400 million for King Kong?!? This is a flimsy plot about a giant ape who develops an obsession about a tiny blonde human woman pet. (Hollywood metaphor anyone?). Big monkey lives on a distant island; whites come; they capture him (somehow); they take him to New York, he flips out, smashes up some shti, climbs a building, and gets shot down. Duh, end of story.
    How is this worth making into a $400 million movie? Or, rather, how is $400 million going to make a better movie than the original or the 1978 Jessica Lange remake? More computer graphic imagery? Of what? A big monkey smashing things in NYC? Didn't we see all that already in the remake of Godzilla? You remember that... The remake of Godzilla that cost $80 million and lost most of it because it was stupid and a completely unnecessary film? How are you going to cover a $400 million investment on a big monkey film?
    I haven't seen the new Peter Jackson 'King Kong'. Hell, it hasn't even been made. In fact, the producers are wracking their pointed little heads trying to think of some new angle that will get 45 million people to pay $10 each just to cover the pre-production cost ($400 million film and $50 million in publicity).

    But I just know it's a bomb. It's the 'Gigli' of Summer 2006. And it's going to take a studio or two down with it.

    This isn't a troll, it's a tragedy...

    Thank you kindly,

    1. Re:King Kong Bomb by Uma+Thurman · · Score: 5, Funny

      They are making it because Hollywood has turned introspective, looking at itself for plots. They're obviously on a 100 year cycle, and are starting the second iteration. Every 100 years is going to be just like the last 100 years, but updated. If you are lucky, improved medicine will let you stand in line in the year 2077 to see a cool little movie about a guy in a galaxy far, far away. Except, you'll smell the wookie.

      --
      This is America, damnit. Speak Spanish!
    2. Re:King Kong Bomb by BJH · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Are you sure that's not $400 million New Zealand dollars? (That's about $US200 million.)

    3. Re:King Kong Bomb by Ores · · Score: 5, Informative

      After some googling i found this. $100million, not that unreasnoble (and if it goes over budget jackson foots the bill personally) This is far more than a rumour, its already in preproduction and has been for a while. It has been his plan to remake it well before LOTR, with scripts availiable online dating to 1996. It seemes to me you are being overly critcal.

    4. Re:King Kong Bomb by suss · · Score: 4, Funny

      Except, you'll smell the wookie.

      You'll probably experience about the same experience into the 7th or 8th hour of LOTR marathons....

  19. The 30's 60's 70's and 80's called by KalvinB · · Score: 4, Funny

    And they want their monkey back.

    They saw what happened to Godzilla.

    Ben

  20. The problem with long copyrights by ChaosDiscord · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I'm so glad that the Tolkien estate has so much control over Hobbit derivatives. I'm sure that given the extended incentive provided by Congress, Tolkien is using the money he's still making to write yet more fiction for us to enjoy.

    Oops, he's been dead for thirty years. Probably isn't going to be writing another book set in Middle Earth I guess.

    The Hobbit was published in 1937. I think 66 years is plenty of time to recoop the his effort. I appreciate the intent of allowing copyright to pass on to one's heirs, but it's been 30 years since Tolkien died. Can't Christopher Tolkien create something of value himself to provide for himself? Heck, he's got to be doing well, and at 77 maybe it's time to retire and let the rest of the world enjoy a work you didn't actually create!

    The Founder's Copyright still covers 99% of the potential value of copyrighted works and manages to do it without putting culture under chains.

    1. Re:The problem with long copyrights by jkantola · · Score: 5, Insightful


      Try reading the Silmarillion or the Unfinished Tales. Why, take a look at the Books of Lost Tales as well.

      It is quite possible that those beautiful, indeed, essential volumes in the tale of the Middle-Earth would not exist without Christopher, or at least wouldn't, in all probability, fit in so well with the original published works of JRRT. Christopher is, quite understandably so, the best Tolkien scholar par none.

      It's actually interesting how real life mirrors the fantasy. What Christopher's been doing with his father's writings is very much the same thing that Frodo and Sam did for Bilbo's Red Book.

      I for my part am forever grateful for Christopher for publishing any- and everything his father left behind. And I understand his grudge with the franchising of Middle-Earth, even as I love the movies on their own accord.

      Are they selling McLembas already?

  21. I am the Axe by Axe · · Score: 4, Funny

    And you can not have me. On the behalf of the estate of the Axe, I refuse.

    --
    <^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
  22. just saw Return of the King by keshet · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ..at a screening for reviewers (my mother is a reviewer) in NYC
    No spoilers:
    - Well another great chapter awaits!
    - The battle scenes are stupendous, quite exhausting
    - It is *long* (we didn't get an intermission)
    - There are a couple of Monty Python-like lines which although not intentional drew some laughs
    - The end is kind of soppy (well what did you expect)
    - Towards the end it felt like Spielburg was on the job, squeezing out every last ounce of emotion
    - Gandalf for president!

    1. Re:just saw Return of the King by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Informative

      - It is *long* (we didn't get an intermission)

      Indeed! I didn't actually notice this until I read your post and checked at IMDb.

      FOTR: 178 min (208 min)
      TTT: 179 min (222 min)
      ROTK: 210 min

      Are Peter Jackson actually going to make an Extended Edition of ROTK? I assumed so before, but seeing the non-EE version is about as long...??

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  23. Fact check -- STOP blaming the Tolkien Estate! by geekwench · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The Estate (and Christopher) are not behind any difficulties currently facing a Wingnut Films production of The Hobbit. Warner Bros. Pictures, however, is.

    In 1976, the Saul Zaentz Co., doing business as Tolkien Enterprises, acquired rights to both The Hobbit and LotR. This agreement included the film rights. Tolkien Enterprises entered into an agreement with WB so that they could film the Rankin & Bass animated version of The Hobbit. Now comes the fun part: WB still has those rights, and they're sitting on them like a broody hen with only one egg.
    New Line can't greenlight Peter -- they don't have the rights, and aren't likely to get them in the near future. Rumor has it that a few of the key brass over at the Frog Studio are a little cheesed off about the fact that a bunch of Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, and other assorted mangy fairy-tale creatures have been collectively kicking the backside of a certain boy wizard at the box office for the past two Christmases running. Heh.

    Now OTOH, the Tolkien Estate is being a pain in the butt about the idea of a movie museum in Wellington. And for that, Christopher Tolkien can rightly be accused of behaving like the dog in the manger.

    --
    Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
    1. Re:Fact check -- STOP blaming the Tolkien Estate! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Just a sec....

      Isn't NewLine part of AOL^H^H^H Time Warner?
      According to This, they are.

      And Warner Pictures is too?

      Considering there were a number of reports that TW's profits for the last few years was largely influenced by LOTR:FOTR & TTT - it shouldn't take much for NewLine to receive the rights....

      Should it?

  24. Yes, it's travesty called "not reading the post" by Shadowlore · · Score: 5, Informative

    It is not insightful, it is flat out wrong on so many things wrong.

    Scroll to the top and reread the story.

    Wait, don't both here it is:
    "New Line, which spent $US300million ($415 million) making the films, is already planning to continue its Rings success with an adaptation of Tolkien's novel The Hobbit. "

    That plainly says they spent the money on the LoTR series, not on the King Kong Remake. Further hints include the little know fact that "films" is plural, whereas "the King Kong remake" is singular. ;)

    Oh, and not to pick any nits or anything, but Universal is the one paying Jackson to do the remake of King Kong, and has budgeted 100 million to the project.

    The only "insight" is that Simonetta didn't seem to read the original post. The tragedy is that s/he went off on poor defenseless strawman, and got a +5 insightful.

    Just goes to show that put enough monkeys at a keyboard and let them bang away, eventually they'll mod anything and everything up to +5 insightful.

    --
    My Suburban burns less gasoline than your Prius.