BIG BUDGET FOR "THE HOBBIT" TIMES TWO

A return to J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories about ancient Middle Earth, which was preceded by The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s,  will be followed up by The Hobbit which would involve two films shot back to back will soon be in production.  What is surprising, according to Deadline.com is that Warner Bros. will be picking up the majority of the production tab along with MGM for the two movies whose prices combined are “expected to exceed 500 million” (Finke, 2011).  In addition, Warner Bros. will also handle the worldwide distribution as well and MGM would handle the domestic.

            The good to come out of this is that the two major recognizable studios, MGM and Warner Brothers are getting their acts together to produce a product that has much to live up to in regard to the preceding Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  In addition with MGM getting their acts together with the new studio heads, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum (who also command a dominant presence in Hollywood with their production company, Spyglass Films), things are beginning to look up for not only the film itself, but also MGM as well.  Recently, MGM has just emerged from bankruptcy with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum taking the helm of running the studio, and with these two high profile films in pre-production, all eyes will be on them to produce the two films that would be worthy to follow in line with the films that have already come before. 

            As stated before, Warner Bros. will be paying for the hefty price tag for the films, and also handle its distribution as well.  What is also exciting is that the two studios are working as a team financially and creatively to bring about the best product that would be worthy of J.R.R. Tolkien.  In addition, Peter Jackson (the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) is now making his rounds to secure the original actors from the previous films so that the films would be consistent with its characterizations.  If Peter Jackson stays on that path, Jackson and the studios involved would have another major hit, times two, on their hands. 

Reference:

http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/warner-bros-taking-worldwide-distribution-on-the-hobbit/