Where Will Peter Jackson Find The Money For The Third Hobbit? (Dwarves LOL)
Not all that glitters is gold
Whatever your reaction was to the news of Peter Jackson making The Hobbit into three films, the reality has set in – how the hell is this actually going to work? You know, because the film doesn’t even have a script and the studios hadn’t budgeted for three. Someone needs to tell the dwarves to dig deeper I guess.
“The original deal to make two Hobbit movies was undoubtedly one of the most complicated in Hollywood history, with an array of players including Warner Bros., New Line, MGM and other rights holders,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter. “Warners chairman and CEO Barry Meyer is said to have told associates that never in his 40-plus years in the business had there been more meetings in pursuit of a project.”
But here we find ourselves. Jackson, along with collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens had been hard at work on a third Hobbit film even before the official announcement was made. They had to figure out logistics, re-hire the cast, and get the OK from the studio before proceeding. One thing they didn’t need to get the go-ahead? A script.
THR writes, “Previously, the budget for the two movies was estimated, probably conservatively, at $500 million. A source says the production cost of the third could run between half and two-thirds as much as one of the other two films thanks to work that’s already been done. (Marketing No. 3 will add to the total.) But the final cost is not yet known because the studio is awaiting a full script for the third movie.”
“There’s some areas of the story to develop and expand,” Jackson said. Filming that was meant to be a few short pick-ups for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will now be extended a few weeks more to compensate for whatever script Jackson is able to pull out of his hat.
But everyone on the team seems to be squarely behind a third film. “If anybody had been a big hindrance, it wouldn’t have happened,” said a source with ties to the movies. “It was such a short window of time to make this decision, if anybody had said no, it would have been two movies.”
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
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