The Hobbit: Lord of the Rings Prequel?

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is one of best selling movie boxed-sets of all time. And, rightly so as these movies are some of the most well written and directed movies in decades. The way the creators capture the viewer and take them on a journey is simply film making at it's best. Now, it's time to start talking about another movie in the Lord of the Rings family. The Hobbit, as it's been tentatively titled, is supposed to be a prequel to the first installment of The Lord of the Rings called The Fellowship of the Ring. But, will this movie ever be made? Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson says he won't be involved.

This is unfortunate news to Lord of the Rings fans. Jackson did such an outstanding job with the first three movies, it would only make sense to involve him in some capacity for The Hobbit. However, there's been a much publicized feud between New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson about how much money he was compensated for the original films. Jackson claims that New Line didn't pay him what he was told he was going to get. New Line has already paid Peter Jackson a quarter of a billion dollars (yes, billion!) for his work. Jackson is now suing New Line Cinema for a breech of contract and is demanding the compensation. This is a very unfortunate situation and has caused obvious animosity between the two parties. This has forced New Line to part ways with Peter Jackson and any hopes of involving him in The Hobbit.

So, if not Peter Jackson, who will direct The Hobbit? There has been no announcement of who will take the job, but New Line has confirmed that they are indeed moving ahead with the film project as planned. Finally, some good news at last! For Lord of the Rings fans, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. How good this movie will be remains to be seen, but better to make this film and not include Jackson as opposed to not making it at all. Some sources believe that New Line is planning the film in hopes that Peter Jackson will drop the law suit and undertake the project, but this is all speculation.

Speaking of speculation, there is no "official" word on who will be in the film or what it is about, but it's been rumored that the film will be centered around Bilbo Baggins, The Shire and Gandalf. Once again, this is all rumor, but it stand to reason that this would make the most sense, seeing that it is a prequel. Whether or not the same actors will play these characters is yet another unknown. Either way, Lord of the Ring fans everywhere are in high anticipation for yet another movie that is centered around the original plot. Whether or not Peter Jackson has a hand in production remains to be seen.