It is an interesting transcript. I kind of like del Toro's comments. He seems like he understands Tolkien and has a strong vision for these films.

In his comments, PJ seemed to me to be a little too cocky about of LOTR. I mean, it is still the best fantasy epic ever made (by far), I just don't think it's quite the flawless masterpiece PJ seems to see it as.

McKellen's Gandalf the Grey was the best part of the trilogy. It will be great to get that character back for two more films.

I'm excited.

Is it simply because of all the versions and extras ? I would have thought even a vanilla no frills Blu Ray of the Cinema Version would have been a Good idea just to tide folks over till the no doubt "Mammoth" version appears. (which may tell take some time)

Smaug, yeah that's gonna be tricky, but I think they can pull it off and produce something eyepopping in the same way Gollum was.

Darth Melkor, I sincerely doubt you will hear people complaining that Jackson raped their childhoods in the way Lucas did with Star Wars/Indiana Jones. Del Toro and Jackson are at the height of their powers and are not tired old men who are out of touch. They are passionate about this project; they have a strong work ethic and a desire to respect the integrity of their franchise - unlike Lucas' lazy 'good enough' approach. If The Hobbit fails to deliver, it won't be for lack of trying.

At this very moment, somewhere out there, ringwearer9 is going over this transcript with a fine-toothed comb looking for chinks in the armor. Hell, he's probably even listening to the recording trying to tune into variances in PJ's and Del Toro's voices which might indicate when they're "lying".

Like the talkbacker above said, it's so great to be talkbacking about a new Tolkien project, and especially one which looks so promising.

The subsequent flame wars will surely shake the pillars of heaven. I think that the crushing disappointment of Indy 4 will, unfortunately, give haters more wind in their sails.

Let them come!

Try going to the gym, developing hobbies & social skills, talking to people..you know LIVE.

That should be the subtitle for the Talkbacks!

Also changing the creatures, talking trolls, wargs, different goblins, different elves. Hmm. Sounds like they'll be more faithful to the book than even the bookbores wanted. I really wasn't expecting that.

I disagree. I think PJ would probably be the first to point out that his LOTR is not without its flaws. But the man spent an incredible amount of time bringing those films to light; I don't begrudge him one bit for feeling a sense of pride about their overall accomplishment.

Ian Holm and Ian McKellen more or less brought all the gravitas to the films that other actors would have lost. Ian Holm is a perfect Bilbo, and I totally agree with the idea of using him in flashback almost as narrator. I know PJ often stated his preference for the Cinematic versions of the Trilogy but does anybody really think the opening with Bilbo, concerning hobbits, writing in his book was adequately replaced with an opening shot of Frodo? Of course not. It'd work perfectly in these films too.

But seriously, the questions were around casting decisions and saying that the team that hired Ian Holm did their job right is spot on! You can ruin a film by putting the wrong person in a role. Forget crappy CGI, or poor editing, or script problems...pick the wrong actor and you might as well shut the film down. The original casting of Aragorn a case in point.

Is there a loophole where such a scene could be shot for the film without fucking the canon too much?

We saw the Eagles just twice in the LOTR trilogy - 1) when an Eagle rescued Gandalf from Orthanc, and 2) when the Eagles fought the Ring Wraiths at the Battle of the Black Gate. We saw more of the Trolls but we only really saw them while they were in battle. I'd hardly think either of these 2 species would talk or start a conversation during a fight.

So really, the fact that we don't see any talking Eagles or Trolls in the LOTR movies is perfectly understandable and therefore wouldn't conflict with any such talking creatures in the Hobbit movies.

plot details? not sure yet, we'll see.
actors? too early to say
designs? we're working on it
titles? um...we don't have any yet

seems like the the only piece of hard information is that the first one is coming out in like 3 years. this all just seems a little premature. is that just me?

I'm sorry, dude. The world, and that joke, is older than AICN Talkbacks.

For the record, AFAIK mine is "Herc is a 14-year-old girl." and let me tell you, that shit never gets old! Sometimes you can even insert another name in there (but Herc just makes it so easy to keep using his).

Back when Malexandria was the scourge of the art of the movie review, there were a few good ones that came out of her ignorant reviews. I can't remember any at the moment, but I remember the furor that arose over her review of Fellowship of the Ring.

The trick here is to take all that stodgy history and boring elvish lore and eons-long tales of who begat whom and turn it into something that doesn't put audiences to sleep, while following the three-act formula, within a two-hour time frame.

The other trick is to stick with the characters that are established and familiar. It would probably be jarring for audiences to introduce a lot of extra characters for the Hobbit sequel.

So they'll have to pick and choose, and while the end result won't be the Silmarillion thrown up on the screen for your viewing pleasure, it will probably contain elements of that book-- and others-- for the final result.

I used to manage a bookstore, so it's quite a stack. . .

Is New Line still gonna be called New Line after it's been bought out?

Is there a bigger budget for The Hobbit and F2 now because New Line is under new, richer owners?

Ar stuffit!

Harry, you gotta fix this "Subject-line cut-off" torture.

But after Cate Blanchett's fencing scenes in the new Indiana Jones movie maybe we'll get to see some Galadriel Smackdowns.

'ere now, might that be our own ConantheHumble I see here? Haven't you heard? Arwen is to replace Thranduill as the Queen of the Woodelves so there'll be at least one female character. Eh, y'know those Elves are hard to tell apart anyway so male/female, what's the difference...they're all pansies!

Finally, how could you leave out "argle-bargle" in your ar roundup, irritable?

Lawks, according to an article (search James McAvoy) over at IMDB, Jack Freakin' Black is actually being considered for Bilbo! "A source tells British newspaper the Daily Express, "A number of names have been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black, but James (McAvoy) is the one the film's bosses really want."...so goes the quote. I will unconditionally state right now that I will NOT be going to see ANY Hobbit movie with Jack Black in it. Not even as a Dwarf!

BTW, read your post above concerning Holm's role and I like the idea. But, erm, are you implying the Red Book of Westmarch is, is...f-f-FICTION?!!!