Peter Jackson Won’t Show Hobbit Footage In 3D At Comic-Con, No Third Film Planned

Warner Bros. is planning an all-encompassing panel in giant Hall H at Comic-Con International this weekend including a sneak peak at Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. But for the lucky 6,500 or so individuals in that room, the film reel for The Hobbit might night pop quite like they expect. Jackson is leaving the 3D and 48 frames per second technology at home so the focus is squarely on the content. Read on for more information including some weird rumors about there being a third Hobbit installment and some possible additional shoots. 

The Warner Bros. panel is being held Saturday afternoon at Comic-Con with Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, Man of Steel, and The Hobbit being featured in that order (least to most anticipated?). Jackson, co-screenwriter Phillipa Boyens, actor and second-unit director Andy Serkis , and actors Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, and Richard Armitage are expected to make an appearance.

Now, I’ve been to panels in Hall H that were split between several films and they were tough. Usually actors are trotted out, clips are shown, and on the the next before you can blink an eye but let’s hope they leave room for a lengthy Hobbit clip. But one thing’s for sure, Jackson wants to make sure all anyone can think about is how awesome it is. He spoke with Hero Complex:

I think it’s more about protecting the downside, rather than helping the film in any significant way. There is a huge audience waiting to see “The Hobbit,” and any positive press from Comic-Con will truthfully have little impact on that. However, as we saw at CinemaCon earlier this year, with our 48 frames per second presentation, negative bloggers are the ones the mainstream press runs with and quotes from. 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.

A smart move if you ask me. Previously, Jackson said the only complaints they heard after screening footage at CinemaCon was about the technology. “Nobody is going to stop. This technology is going to keep evolving,” he said. “At first it’s unusual because you’ve never seen a movie like this before. It’s literally a new experience, but you know, that doesn’t last the entire experience of the film–not by any stretch, [just] 10 minutes or so. That’s a different experience than if you see a fast-cutting montage at a technical presentation.”

And to be fair, the studio is nice enough to give viewers the choice when they head to theaters. The films will be available in six different ways: 3-D, 2-D, and IMAX 3-D, and then each of those in 24fps and 48fps. Oddly enough, talk has been going around that they’ve been hiding a planned third Hobbit film.

A studio source told Variety there are “no planned or surprise announcements [at SDCC]. The plan was always for two.” But that doesn’t mean Team Jackson didn’t have plenty of material for just the two. He told Hero Complex, “We are also using extensive parts of the appendices which were published at the end of Return of the King. This is not just The Hobbit— it’s The Hobbit set in a much greater context of events taking place throughout Middle-earth during this period. The material is so rich. In fact only this last week or two, we’ve been talking to the studio about allowing us to shoot some additional material next year, to fully complete the story.”

If you aren’t at Comic-Con, you can see it for yourself come December 14.

(via Hero Complex, Variety)

Previously in The Hobbit

• Peter Jackson Has Wrapped Filming On The Hobbitses
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected First Look
• Release Date For The Hobbit May Be Delayed In The UK

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