Will the Hobbits return?

The production of the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, continues to remain shrouded in as much mystery and drama as the Middle Earth itself created by J.R.R. Tolkien in his books of the same name. Between the period from 1937 to 1949, Tolkien created one of the greatest literary creations of the century that was later brought to life on the silver screen by Peter Jackson. As the release dates for The Hobbit series continues to allude, it is time to go back in history and relive the impact that the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy created.

The phenomenon began in the year 2001. On a production budget of $110 million, LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring introduced the world to the Middle Earth and its creatures, the hobbits, the wizards, the dwarfs, the elves, the orcs and many more. The humble Shire of the hobbits, the grandeur of the wizard Gandalf, the dark Nazguls and their allegiance to their Lord, Sauron, the beautiful land of Rivendell where the Fellowship is formed, all combined well to stir more than a mere liking for the film. It created a sensation across the globe! The movie grossed $869 million in worldwide revenues, won 4 Oscars of the 13 categories it was nominated in, and set the roadpath for the next two sequels to follow.

Exactly an year later, the much anticipated LOTR: The Two Towers followed. And it lived upto the reputation set by its predecessor. As the disbanded Fellowship continued on their separate journeys to achieve the sole quest of destroying the One Ring, the audience followed them loyally all the way. The movie grossed $926 million worldwide, more than its predecessor, and won 2 Oscars of the 6 categories it was nominated in. But it was the final movie of the trilogy, released in 2003, that set the stage on fire! LOTR: The Return of the King followed the journey of Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom as Sauron's forces arrived at the lands of Gondor to claim Middle Earth. The finale of the trilogy broke the $1 billion barrier (previously achieved only by Titanic) and swept in $1,133 million in worldwide revenues (all-time #3, after Avatar and Titanic). As if that was not enough, the movie then went on to grab all the 11 Oscars that it had been nominated for. Sauron's forces had been vanquished and Middle Earth had been saved!

It came as no surprise then when the movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was announced. Published in 1937, the story acts as a prequel to the happenings of LOTR, showcasing Bilbo Baggins' journey with the dwarves to battle the dragon Smaug and more importantly, his encounter with Gollum that leads him to the possession of the most coveted Ring. Peter Jackson was initially supposed to serve as executive producer and co-writer while Guillermo Del Toro (of Pan's Labyrinth fame) was brought in as the director. The movie is planned to be broken into two parts. The making of the film has been however hardly anything but smooth. The initially announced release date of December 2011 for the first film has already been pushed back with the aim to start shooting by January 2011. The on-going financial problems of MGM who holds large portion of the rights to the movie, has been another reason for the drama surrounding the movie. The casting has not been completed yet though it is expected that many actors from the LOTR series would be reprising their roles (would love to see Gandalf back!). More importantly, the movie has no director as of now, with Del Toro walking out in May 2010 after working for two years on pre-production, due to the delays in filming. It appears that it would be upto Peter Jackson once again to weave his magic. We can only hope that the issues are resloved soon and we are taken back to Middle Earth to accompany the brave Bilbo Baggins on his adventures, especially his chance meeting with Gollum and the game of riddles that follow which brings the mysterious ring in Bilbo's possession. Fingers crossed!

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."