The Kidd here...
Is Peter Jackson considering extending his two-part venture back to Middle-earth into a trilogy of sorts?
That's the word from the director's mouth as he walked the press line at this year's Comic-Con. When asked by Hitfix if he was considering splitting the second film, THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN into two movies, Jackson answered, "We have certainly been talking to the studio about some of the material we can't film, and we've been asking them so we can do a bit more filming next year. Which, I don't know what would come of that, whether it'd be extended editions or whatnot. But those discussions are ongoing... I'd like to shoot a bunch more material that we [couldn't] shoot. There's so much good stuff in the appendices that we haven't been able to squeeze into these movies, so that's a discussion we're having, yeah."
So what does this mean? You've got to believe Warner Bros. would be willing to make the investment for more shooting if that means getting another film out of the deal. THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy was big business, raking in nearly $3 billion worldwide, and the money the studio would have to put in would easily be recouped by stretching the series out for another year, as opposed to just turning the two films they have into extended editions for a later home release, which would net them a little less in the bank.
But is Jackson's vision for a two-part HOBBIT conducive to making this longer? Is there enough material to seamlessly be added for a third movie to make sense as part of the story telling? Plus, might the fans strike back at this idea of all series' finales now being divided into two films? These are questions Jackson is going to have to answer carefully before he proceeds, because, while it seems like one cannot get enough of these Tolkien adaptations in his hands, forcing a third film if it's not really there could damage this pre-LOTR tales.
Don't just do it, because you can... only do it if it works.
-Billy Donnelly
"The Infamous Billy The Kidd"
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