Riddles in the Dark

This cartoon always freaked me out.

The Hobbit has been a film somewhat shrouded in mystery, with talk of a "bridge" film between it and the LOTR trilogy. This was a prospect that always made me wary, as the idea of making a non-Tolkien work canonical seemed, at best, a dicey proposition. Luckily, director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson have decided against that route, instead splitting up The Hobbit into two films. The article says that the White Council and the wanderings of Gandalf (which are not discussed in the book) were originally meant to form the second film, but will now be weaved throughout the story.

I couldn't be happier with this development. I always felt as though The Hobbit was more than what one movie could provide, but also somewhat less than two, if that makes any sense. I think interspersing the concurrent Gandalf storyline will work far better as part of a greater work and will necessarily have to take fewer literary chances than a stand alone film. Not that my excitement level could really be any higher for films coming out in 2011 and 2012, but this is great news.