That’s the big question posed by Ben Child of The Guardian!
To begin with, fans have long known that Peter Jackson’s vision for his two-part adaptation of The Hobbit involves plans to include the activities of the White Council and the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, a rather sketchy storyline that minimally involves Gandalf, Saruman, and Galadriel, and occurs parallel to the main story of Bilbo’s journey with the thirteen Dwarves to the Lonely Mountain.
But while it could be argued that the White Council storyline is at least canon, what can be said about the surprising inclusion of Frodo, his father Drogo, an older Bilbo (played by Sir Ian Holm), and Legolas?
In his article Ben poses genuine questions that most fans (on TheOneRing.net at least) have been pondering over for months now:
What shape will Sauron take – Tolkien offers no clues – as he will presumably not yet have assumed the form of a great eye in which he appears in Lord of the Rings?
Does this mean that the 89-year-old Christopher Lee has made the trip to New Zealand after all to reprise his role as Saruman?
Going further than questioning the practicalities of filming this prelude to the Lord of the Rings, the article delves deeper into the question at the heart of the much-anticipated cinematic phenomenon – by pulling us away from the central story, will the films present The Hobbit through a very different prism than what was originally intended?
Ethan Gilsdorf writes: I attended the recent 3rd Conference on Middle-earth (in Westford, Massachusetts) where I listened to talks on blond elf imagery and debates on how to adapt The Hobbit into one movie or two movies (and the wisdom of that latter endeavor).
I also wandered over to a vendor table manned by an older gentleman named Ed Meskys, who has been involved in science fiction and fantasy fandom since the early days. The former president of the Tolkien Society of America (1967-1972), Meskys had been cleaning out his garage, he told me, and wanted his old treasures might see the light of day again. Most of the stuff — magazines and old book jackets — was a buck or two each.
Among the ephemera were some yellowed, dusty, wonderful, terrible, Lord of the Rings stickers. It was the end of the day, and Meskys gave me his last sheets of stickers for free. Continue reading “Tolkien hippie stickers resurface”
TVNZ’s Close Up program aired an interview with James Nesbitt the other day and we thought you’d like to see it! James, who is playing Bofur, talks about his acting career and The Hobbit. Take a look! [TVNZ Closeup]
As announced on Peter Jackson’s Facebook page, Orlando Bloom is reprising his role as Legolas “Greenleaf” in The Hobbit. Below are some video clips of the local coverage.
Strider continues his epic journey through the varying layers of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, examining the journey from book to game, this time focusing on The Two Towers. What connects a certain Scottish play to Fangorn Forest?
In part three Strider tackles the final levels of The Two Towers and explores Helm’s Deep through the eyes of Peter Jackson and J.R.R. Tolkien.
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That’s the big question posed by Ben Child of The Guardian!
