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.

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What should be a moment of great joy in my life has become one of despair. Despair in knowing that Peter Jackson will eventually make, like, 10 grand off me. The Lord of the Rings is being released on Blu-Ray sometime this year, but the release will be (wait for it) the theatrical cut! Not that I have some sort of hatred towards the movies I saw in the theater, but the extended editions are far superior. This is, of course, all rumor at this point, as no official announcement has been made to that end, but it's obviously true. Why release what everyone wants when you can release it at a later date, and after us HD-starved LOTR fanboys have already bought the theatrical cut? It's just good business.

Snark aside, it is good business. They know their customer. Does anyone really think that I won't go out and buy this the day it comes out, and then buy the extended editions the day they come out? Of course not. Then, I'll have four different copies of the same movie! Who wouldn't want that?