Jackson to exec produce 'The Hobbit'

[nottenst]

I believe they are probably going to use some material referred to in Lord of the Rings, the Lost Tales and Unfinished Tales, etc. for bridging material between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Neil

[vacantlook]

Hmmmm. I didn't know "The Hobbit" had a sequel that wasn't "Lord of the Rings".

Yeah, I was wondering about that too as I read that quote.

The information up on TheOneRing.Net has the eyeballed production and release dates as follows:

The two “Hobbit” films – “The Hobbit” and its sequel – are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, with pre-production beginning as soon as possible. Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start, with the intention of “The Hobbit” release slated for 2010 and its sequel the following year, in 2011.

[WorkerCaste]

Hmmmm. I didn't know "The Hobbit" had a sequel that wasn't "Lord of the Rings".

[Jan]

Accourding to Deadline Hollywood Daily,

Today's big news is that JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit and its sequel will finally be made back-to-back for New Line and MGM the way they should be -- under the Academy-Award-winning creative vision of Mr. Lord Of The Rings. But Jackson won't be directing this time out, because of his previous commitments to DreamWorks for The Lovely Bones and Tintin trilogy with Steven Spielberg. While that will disappoint his LOTR fans, they'll be pleased to know that the famed director will be integrally involved as executive producera long with his partner Fran Walsh. I'm told Jackson will make all creative decisions in concert with New Line, which will manage the production of the films.

Jan