The Hobbit Trilogy Proved that Profit Doesn’t Equal Success

the Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson made it. It's also safe to say that The Hobbit He broke it. One look at the director/producer sitting dejectedly on an empty set in the Blu-ray short tells us more than we realize. In less than 10 years, the mood in discussions and media articles has shifted from praise to condemnation. His fantasy epics were once celebrated as passion projects, but are now seen as obligatory corporate products. How can a trilogy gross $2.9 billion and still be considered a disappointing mess? Turning a young adult adventure novel into an R-rated action movie is certainly one way to divide a fan base.

Although his career is also tied to the fantasy novels written by J.R.R. Tolkien, Jackson's successor, Andy Serkis (the man who played Gollum), faces a daunting task. He is set to direct the next film, The Lord of the Rings: The Quest for Gollum (Not to be confused with the 2009 fan-made short film), he inherits the reins of the franchise just as interest in the hobbit and the orcs has reached a low. With Tolkien's disappointing return to Prime Video Rings of Power, Lord of the Rings The universe's reputation is at an all-time low. Hollywood Reporter Reports indicate that less than half of viewers actually finished the first season, and this was ignored by the Emmys. It's hard not to look back on the horrific production of The Hobbit As a warning of things to come.

On paper, depicting the basic text that laid the narrative foundation for the Lord of the Rings It seems like nothing can go wrong. It's easy to forget that. the Lord of the Rings This could only be achieved through a network of interconnected parties working together to bring a live version of the film to life. The Hobbit It has been sabotaged by the same uneasy alliance between creative and corporate entities competing for a larger share. The magic evaporated before the cameras started rolling. After The Hobbit But in films like Tolkien, his followers no longer trust Jackson or look at him the same way again. Is it fair to blame him for that?

The Hobbit was supposed to be an easy movie.

the Lord of the Rings The films took years of painstaking planning and careful casting to adapt author J.R.R. Tolkien's novels for the big screen. This was six decades before Jackson's trilogy, and was to be a two-part film written by Guillermo del Toro. The Hobbit It was a no-brainer decision for producers and rights holders who were eager to seize the momentum of the Oscar-winning film franchise and continue the saga. The HobbitThe 1937 book “The Bible” was split into three films instead, despite having much less source material to cover than Lord of the ringsEach one works for a long time, about two and a half hours. Perhaps that information was the first warning sign that things were going wrong.

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An Unexpected Journey The trilogy opened in the 2012 holiday season; The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug It first appeared the following year; and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The prequel series concluded in 2014, and was the only R-rated film in the series. The film seemed to be in good hands, with Jackson returning to direct, and accomplished actors like Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage taking on the lead roles. Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee and Cate Blanchett reprised their roles from the previous trilogy, ensuring continuity. Guillermo del Toro, who had been hired to bring his own unique spin to the lighthearted story of Frodo Baggins’ cousin Bilbo, did not attend. This was the second big warning sign that things were not going well.

Momentum, or lack thereof, was the only thing that ruined the project. It would be an exaggeration to decry the lengthy pre-production and principal production as “hell,” but it certainly seemed that way to those caught up in the uncertainty. In a strange quirk of the genre, the film began pre-production while it had not been officially legally authorized. Production was expected to begin at a later date. The Hobbit It was supposed to happen, but not when. Some fans wish it never happened.

The Hobbit Booths in the production purgatory

Fate, greed and incompetence are perhaps the most appropriate words that conspired against the project before it even began, as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, New Line Cinema, the Tolkien Foundation and Jackson fought over money and hired lawyers. Here’s the short version to save you time: Jackson held out for more money, believing New Line Cinema was cutting him off from merchandising profits.While the Tolkien estate wanted a larger share of the NLC as well. The whole thing dragged on for years after the initial estimates because the film rights holder, MGM, was in a state of disarray at that point. Four years have passed without a film being produced or directed..

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As the lawyers prepared for battle, Del Toro designed the storyboards, wrote the dialogue, and planned the logistics for the action scenes and supporting shots. While the crew sat and waited for the green light. This boring shoot had drained any spirit from the crew. Due to the stress, Guillermo del Toro, who had now been living in New Zealand for a year and a half, had dropped out. Jackson accepted the decision graciously, thanking him for his commitment. It seems that the director was simply bored and did not appreciate the studios (and Jackson) wasting his valuable time; Jackson explained in detail to The One Ring.net In 2010:

“The bottom line is that Guillermo didn’t feel he could dedicate six years to living in New Zealand, making these films exclusively, when his original commitment was three years… Guillermo’s powerful vision is etched into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are fortunate enough to carry his creative DNA.”

Jackson, against his will, was thrust back into the director's chair.working 21-hour shifts to get the job done on time and within budget, according to New Zealand HeraldMuch preparatory work had been done, but Jackson had to use the props and sets that del Toro had chosen. It was a difficult time for almost everyone involved. After going bankrupt after several ambitious failures, New Line Cinema’s short but brilliant run as one of the great independent studios ended in 2008, when it was absorbed into Warner Bros., and its days as a major force in the industry were over. Jackson had given the studio its crowning glory, but nothing could save New Line Cinema. In the years since, Lord of the rings It is clear that the media will move further and further away from the classic trilogy and from Jackson's presence, with diminishing results.

How The Lord of the Rings Lost Its Magic

Part one of The Hobbit This trilogy of films was a huge box office success. Each subsequent chapter easily recoupled its massive budget (at the time) of around $765 million for the three films. The funny thing about the box office is: Moviegoers Critics who expected Jackson to stick closely to the book were surprised by the many liberties he took with the cherished Middle-earth heritage, and derided the film for its overuse of CGI, bloated runtime, and excessive violence that did not fit the relatively simple story of an uncomplicated character. Critics were no less harsh, with one saying: Atlantic A critic slammed the new film as a “violent betrayal of Tolkien” for its portrayal, while another writer on the same site criticized Jackson for his inflated ego. The honeymoon was over, and there would be no love on the red carpet.

Jackson has expressed in interviews his frustration at being denied “time to think.” Rather than delay the tight schedule and undo all the effort that had already been expended, he improvised everything on the spot rather than trying to revise the script and reshape scenes to make them more coherent, and then edited the footage later. Second unit director Andy Serkis added that some scenes were “deprived” of “time to think.” Battle of the Five Armies The scenes were shot largely in isolation from any specific thematic focus or narrative direction. Men in suits were beating each other up in front of a green screen devoid of any motivation, and the scenes were “stocked up” in a desperate attempt to stay ahead of the incredible workload, three epic-sized films coming out year after year.

Mixed reception for The Hobbit The movies were the beginning of the end. Fans of the early books and movies still exist, but the excitement has faded as companies (and the estate itself) have picked apart the bones of Tolkien’s creative output, including extracting the literal appendices of any saleable material. Even the most diehard fans couldn’t convert, however, ignoring Peter Jackson’s massive 2000s film. Fast forward to today, and the Gollum-centric movie that was due in 2026 faces an uphill battle. Let’s hope Serkis learns from the blunders of the recent Exodus. The Hobbit Streaming on Max.