Peter Jackson no longer to direct The Hobbit
If you are as a big a fan as I of Peter Jackson’s spectacular creation of the three Lord of The Rings movies, then you are probably equally as upset over the news that New Line Cinema have dropped PJ as director. In a tiff over financial auditing of LOTR, PJ requested an independent auditor to verify that his production company, Wingnut Films, had not been underpaid. His contract with New Line has such a clause so it is quite within his rights. New Line responded that they would not give up the books until The Hobbit was in the can. I agree with PJ that auditing the books on those movies should have nothing to do with the production of a new movie. Unable to reach an agreement, New Line turned him down as director.
There is no way anyone else can bring the magic to The Hobbit like PJ could. Imagine The Hobbit made by the same actors, effects and production crew and sets - a toal visual feast.
Here’s what the NYT had to say. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh wrote a wonderful reply to theonering.net.
I intend to write strongly to New Line and ask them, politely, to reinstate PJ as director and submit to the audit gracefully. I had enormous respect for New Line when they took the risk of funding 3 movies about such an “unfilmable” book as LOTR. Bravo! But they got return on their investment in spades! Do the right thing and let The Hobbit be made by the experts. Visit TheHobbitFilm to join in on the public retaliation to New Line’s decision. There you will find the address of the head honcho of New Line. Please write him a strong letter, or two, or three… I intend to!
