Hours into Comic-Con, one rumour kept circulating around San Diego: that Peter Jackson would announce a third Hobbit film during Warner Brothers’ Saturday panel. However, studio spokespeople have told Variety that But Jackson isn’t getting ready to give audiences more “Hobbit.

There are “no planned or surprise announcements” involving a third film these spokespeople say. “The plan was always for two.”

According to Variety, Jackson wound up with more footage than expected during their 266-day shoot in New Zealand. Rather than making a third film feasible, would the best of this footage not be more likely to end up on an Extended Edition? Thanks to Quackingtroll for the heads-up!

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As we reported earlier, today is The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit day at Comic-Con 2012 (aka #HobbitCon) and LEGO® was kind enough to send us this exclusive image of a brand new ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ Playset! The set is called ‘An Unexpected Gathering’ and features Bag End with six mini-figures. As you can see in the image above, we have Bofur holding an axe, Bombur with a sausage and knife, Dwalin wielding a really large weapon and knife, Balin with chalice, Gandalf the Grey with walking staff, and Bilbo Baggins. As you can see the set is highly detailed with greenery, vegetables and much more. From the looks of the image we’ll have a nice inside component to play with as well. Stay tuned as we report more from Comic-Con 2012! [Live Coverage]

Christopher Tolkien is the youngest son of J.R.R. Tolkien, and his literary executor. He recently gave a rare interview to French newspaper Le Monde. In it, he talks about his father’s works, reputation, and the slow evolution of Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

The posterity of J.R.R. Tolkien is both the story of an extraordinary literary transmission from a father to a son, and the story of a misunderstanding. The most well-known works, the ones that have hidden the rest, were only an epiphenomenon in the eyes of their author…

[In French] | [English translation]

From all accounts, Hobbitcon has started with a massive bang. In particular, images we’ve seen of the WETA booth over in San Diego are just amazing.

Carven statues of dwarves, massive, replica props in stunning detail, eight-foot-tall trolls, life-size lego renditions of Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Wizard plus 3D posters of the main cast — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

TORn’s booths are proving really popular with fans, too. If you’re going, and have been thinking of grabbing a t-shirt of a badge, let me just say that you better act fast — they are going like hot-cakes!

I can’t cope with giant crowds, and I’m starting to wish I was there! So, read on for a slightly madcap round-up of the Hobbitcon frenzy including just about every link or photo that I can find! Continue reading “The view from Hobbitcon: Comic-Con round-up July 11”

The LA Times snared a few moments with Peter Jackson to talk about his plans for Hobbitcon. The newest big surprise is that Jackson is sticking firmly to 2D and 24fps for the Hall H presentation at 2.30pm on Saturday.

He told the LA Times that: “I decided to screen the Hobbit reel at Comic-Con in 2-D and 24 frames per second, so the focus stays firmly with the content and not the technical stuff. If people want 3-D and 48fps, that choice will be there for them in December.”

He says it’s more about “protecting the downside” and anticipation means that positive press will have little impact on the audience waiting to see The Hobbit.

Quick analysis: He describes it as a “reel”. That doesn’t sound like a trailer to me. And that meshes with Elijah Wood’s comments as well. Thanks to Ringer Daniel for the heads-up!

[Article] | [>TORn at SDCC!]