Comment There is too much that wasn't said... (Score 2, Interesting) 496
While this comment is likely to get buried in the avalanche that preceeded it, I feel that it's necesary to point a few things out.
Most glaringly, the press release doesn't have any mention of Warner Bros. MGM doesn't hold the film rights to The Hobbit; Warner Bros. does, after purchasing them from the Saul Zaentz Corporation. The only thing that the press release mentions is that legal difficulties over The Lord of the Rings have been resolved, none of which involved the labyrinth of licensing issues around Tolkien's other works. Warner Bros. has been blocking the idea of letting the rights go ever since The Fellowship of the Ring turned out to be a hit. I see no indication that this has changed.
Second, although TheOneRing.net has a pretty good track record, they've been wrong before. Several years ago, they trumpeted the release of a "trailer" for The Hobbit, and later had to correct themselves when it turned out to be a fan-created work. Yes, TORn links to MGM's official media release page, but the only other link is to The Hobbit Blog. The blog seems to be officially sponsored by New Line, but the only link to it is in the sign-up page (for New Line's privacy policy), and the only link from New Line to the blog is in the press release, which is also posted on New Line's site. There aren't a lot of branches on this particular "family tree".
Next, there's Christoper Tolkien's long-standing disdain for any and all film adaptations of J.R.R.'s work. There wasn't much that he could do about The Hobbit and LotR, because his father sold the film rights to Zaentz himself. However, Christopher takes his position as his father's literary executor very seriously, and the chances that he will give the nod to use of any of his father's notes for a film that fills in the gap between The Hobbit and LotR are minute to the point of nonexistance.
I doubt that this is an elaborate hoax. I could see hacking one film studio site, but not two. However, I would be much more sanguine about the project if there were a linked article from an industry publication such as Variety, and preferably one that went into detail about how the legal wrangles with Warner Bros. and Zaentz were resolved.
Most glaringly, the press release doesn't have any mention of Warner Bros. MGM doesn't hold the film rights to The Hobbit; Warner Bros. does, after purchasing them from the Saul Zaentz Corporation. The only thing that the press release mentions is that legal difficulties over The Lord of the Rings have been resolved, none of which involved the labyrinth of licensing issues around Tolkien's other works. Warner Bros. has been blocking the idea of letting the rights go ever since The Fellowship of the Ring turned out to be a hit. I see no indication that this has changed.
Second, although TheOneRing.net has a pretty good track record, they've been wrong before. Several years ago, they trumpeted the release of a "trailer" for The Hobbit, and later had to correct themselves when it turned out to be a fan-created work. Yes, TORn links to MGM's official media release page, but the only other link is to The Hobbit Blog. The blog seems to be officially sponsored by New Line, but the only link to it is in the sign-up page (for New Line's privacy policy), and the only link from New Line to the blog is in the press release, which is also posted on New Line's site. There aren't a lot of branches on this particular "family tree".
Next, there's Christoper Tolkien's long-standing disdain for any and all film adaptations of J.R.R.'s work. There wasn't much that he could do about The Hobbit and LotR, because his father sold the film rights to Zaentz himself. However, Christopher takes his position as his father's literary executor very seriously, and the chances that he will give the nod to use of any of his father's notes for a film that fills in the gap between The Hobbit and LotR are minute to the point of nonexistance.
I doubt that this is an elaborate hoax. I could see hacking one film studio site, but not two. However, I would be much more sanguine about the project if there were a linked article from an industry publication such as Variety, and preferably one that went into detail about how the legal wrangles with Warner Bros. and Zaentz were resolved.
