The Hobbit (film series)

''The Hobbit'' is a series of three epic high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. The films are subtitled ''An Unexpected Journey'' (2012), '' The Desolation of Smaug'' (2013), and '' The Battle of the Five Armies'' (2014). The films are based on the 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'' by J. R. R. Tolkien, with large portions of the trilogy inspired by the appendices to ''The Return of the King'', which expand on the story told in ''The Hobbit'', as well as new material and characters written especially for the films. Together they act as a prequel to Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy.

The screenplays were written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct before his departure from the project. The films take place in the fictional world of Middle-earth sixty years before the beginning of ''The Lord of the Rings'', and follow hobbit Bilbo Baggins ( Martin Freeman), who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield ( Richard Armitage), on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). The films expand upon certain elements from the novel and other source material, such as Gandalf's investigation at Dol Guldur which leads him to the Necromancer, and the heroes' pursuit by the orcs Azog and Bolg, who seek vengeance against Thorin and his kindred.

The films feature an ensemble cast that includes James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace and Luke Evans, with several actors reprising their roles from ''The Lord of the Rings'', including Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, and Andy Serkis. The films also feature Manu Bennett, Sylvester McCoy, Mikael Persbrandt, Lawrence Makoare, and Stephen Fry. Returning for production, among others, were illustrators John Howe and Alan Lee, art director Dan Hennah, cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, and composer Howard Shore, while props were again crafted by Weta Workshop, with visual effects managed by Weta Digital.

The first film in the trilogy premiered at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on 28 November 2012. 100,000 people lined the red carpet on Courtenay Place, and the entire event was broadcast live on television in New Zealand and streamed over the Internet. The second film of the series premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 2 December 2013. The final film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 1 December 2014. The series received mixed reviews, but was a financial success and became one of the highest-grossing film series of all time with $2.938 billion in worldwide receipts. It was nominated for various awards and won several, although not as many as the original trilogy.

Development

First stages of development

Jackson and Walsh originally expressed interest in filming ''The Hobbit'' in 1995, then envisaging it as part one of a trilogy (parts two and three would have been based on ''The Lord of the Rings''). Frustration arose when Jackson's producer, Harvey Weinstein, discovered that Saul Zaentz had production rights to ''The Hobbit'', but that distribution rights still belonged to United Artists (which had kept those rights, believing that filmmakers would prefer to adapt ''The Hobbit'' rather than ''The Lord of the Rings''). The United Artists studio and its parent company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were for sale in the mid-1990s, but Weinstein's attempts to buy the movie rights from the studio were unsuccessful. Weinstein asked Jackson to press on with adapting ''The Lord of the Rings''. Ultimately, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was produced by New Line Cinema, not the Weinsteins, and their rights to film ''The Hobbit'' were set to expire in 2010. In September 2006, the new ownership and management of MGM expressed interest in teaming up with New Line and Jackson to make ''The Hobbit''.

In March 2005, Jackson launched a lawsuit against New Line, claiming he had lost revenue from merchandising, video, and computer games releases associated with '' The Fellowship of the Ring''. He did not seek a specific settlement, but requested an audit to see whether New Line had withheld money owed him. Although Jackson wanted it settled before he would make the film, he felt the lawsuit was minor and that New Line would still let him make ''The Hobbit''. New Line co-founder Robert Shaye was annoyed with the lawsuit and said in January 2007 that Jackson would never again direct a film for New Line, accusing him of being greedy. MGM boss Harry Sloan halted development, as he wanted Jackson to be involved. By August, after a string of flops, Shaye tried to repair his relationship with the director. He said, "I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in ''The Hobbit''." The following month, New Line was fined $125,000 for failing to provide requested accounting documents.

On 16 December 2007, New Line and MGM announced that Jackson would be executive producer of ''The Hobbit'' and its sequel. The two studios would co-finance the film and the latter studio (via 20th Century Fox) would distribute the film outside North America—New Line's first-ever such deal with another major studio. Each film's budget was estimated at US$150 million, compared to the US$94 million budget for each of the films in Jackson's ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. After completion of the merger of New Line Cinema with Warner Bros. in February 2008, the two parts were announced as scheduled for release in December 2011 and 2012. Producer Mark Ordesky, the executive producer of ''The Lord of the Rings'', planned to return to supervise the prequels. Jackson explained he chose not to direct because it would have been unsatisfying to compete with his previous films.

In February 2008, the Tolkien Estate (through The Tolkien Trust, a British charity) and HarperCollins Publishers filed a suit against New Line for breach of contract and fraud and demanded $220 million in compensation for ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. The suit claimed New Line had only paid the Estate an upfront fee of $62,500, despite the trilogy's gross of an estimated $6 billion worldwide from box office receipts and merchandise sales. The suit claimed the Estate was entitled to 7.5% of all profits made by any Tolkien films, as established by prior deals. The suit sought to block the filming of ''The Hobbit''. The suit was settled in September 2009 for an undisclosed amount. However the Tolkien Trust's 2009 accounts show that it received payment from New Line Cinema of £24 million (a little over US$38 million). This amount was the Trust's estimated share in respect of the gross profit participation due for the films based on "The Lord of the Rings". Christopher Tolkien said: "The trustees regret that legal action was necessary but are glad that this dispute has been settled on satisfactory terms that will allow the Tolkien Trust properly to pursue its charitable objectives. The trustees acknowledge that New Line may now proceed with its proposed film of The Hobbit."

Development with del Toro

Despite the legal suits, development proceeded and in April 2008, Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct the film. Del Toro has said he was a fan of Jackson's trilogy and had discussed directing a film adaptation of ''Halo'' with him in 2005. Though that project stalled, they kept in contact. In a 2006 interview, del Toro was quoted saying "I don't like little guys and dragons, hairy feet, hobbits .... I don't like sword and sorcery, I hate all that stuff". After he signed on to direct in April 2008, del Toro posted on TheOneRing.net forums that he had been enchanted by ''The Hobbit'' as a child, but found that Tolkien's other books "contain dgeography and genealogy too complex for my prepubescent brain". In taking the job of director, del Toro was now "reading like a madman to catch up with a whole new land, a continent of sorts—a cosmology created by brilliant philologist turned Shaman". He wrote that his appreciation of Tolkien was enhanced by his knowledge of the fantasy genre, and the folklore research he had undertaken while making his own fantasy films.

Pre-production began around August 2008, with del Toro, Jackson, Walsh and Philippa Boyens writing the scripts. Del Toro collaborated with Jackson, Walsh and Boyens via videoconferencing and flew every three weeks, back and forth from Los Angeles (where some of the designs were done) to New Zealand to visit them. Del Toro spent his mornings writing and afternoons looking at material related to Tolkien to help him understand the writer's work. He watched World War I documentaries and asked for book recommendations from Jackson, who is a collector of World War I memorabilia. Del Toro felt Tolkien's experiences in that war influenced his stories.

By November 2008, del Toro had said that he, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens would realise something new about the story every week and the script was continually changing. The writing hours increased to twelve each day, as they dedicated three weeks to finally deciding the films' structures. During the first few months of 2009, writing would start from 8:30 am and end at 3:00 pm when del Toro would meet with Weta (i.e., Weta Workshop and Weta Digital film effects companies). Completion of the story outlines and treatments ended in March 2009 and the studios approved the start of writing the screenplay. Filming was expected to take place throughout 2010 in New Zealand, with del Toro renovating the Hobbiton sets near Matamata. For his part, Jackson had kept the Rivendell scale model and the Bag End set (which he has used as a guest house) from the trilogy. During the middle of the shoot, there was expected to be a break which would have allowed del Toro to edit ''The Hobbit'' while sets would be altered for the second film. The director expected the shoot to last 370 days.

Jackson revealed in late November 2009 that he anticipated that the script for ''The Hobbit'' would not be finished until the beginning of 2010, delaying the start of production until the middle of that summer (several months later than previously anticipated). The announcement created doubts about whether the film would make its previously announced release dates of December 2011 and December 2012. Jackson reiterated that no casting decisions had been made. On 22 January 2010, Alan Horn said the first film would likely not be released until the fourth quarter of 2012.

Del Toro's interpretation

Del Toro and Jackson had a positive working relationship, in which they compromised on disagreements for the benefit of the film. Del Toro believed he would be able to shoot the film himself, although Jackson noted he had similar hopes for filming all of his trilogy and offered to help as second unit director. Del Toro planned on shooting the film in the trilogy's 2.35:1 aspect ratio, rather than his signature 1.85:1 ratio. He hoped to collaborate again with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro.

Del Toro shares Jackson's passion for scale models and background paintings, though he wanted to increase the use of animatronics; "We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap ten years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for virtual reality." Spectral Motion (''Hellboy'', ''Fantastic Four'') was among those del Toro wanted to work with again. Some characters would have been created by mixing computer-generated imagery with animatronics and some would have been created solely with animatronics or animation. Gollum would be entirely digital again; as del Toro noted, "if it ain't broke, why fix it?"

Del Toro said that he interpreted ''The Hobbit'' as being set in a "world that is slightly more golden at the beginning, a very innocent environment", and that the film would need to " akeyou from a time of more purity to a darker reality throughout the film, but n a mannerin the spirit of the book". He perceived the main themes as loss of innocence, which he likened to the experience of England after World War I, and greed, which he said Smaug and Thorin Oakenshield represent. Bilbo Baggins reaffirms his personal morality during the story's third act as he encounters Smaug and the Dwarves' greed. He added, "The humble, sort of a sturdy moral fibre that Bilbo has very much represents the idea that Tolkien had about the little English man, the average English man", and the relationship between Bilbo and Thorin would be the heart of the film. The Elves will also be less solemn.

Del Toro met concept artists John Howe and Alan Lee, Weta Workshop head Richard Taylor, and make-up artist Gino Acevedo in order to keep continuity with the previous films, and he also hired comic book artists to complement Howe's and Lee's style on the trilogy, including Mike Mignola and Wayne Barlowe, who began work around April 2009. He has also considered looking at Tolkien's drawings and using elements of those not used in the trilogy. As Tolkien did not originally intend for the magic ring Bilbo finds to be the all-powerful talisman of evil it is revealed to be in ''The Lord of the Rings'', del Toro said he would address its different nature in the story, but not so much as to draw away from the story's spirit. Each Dwarf would need to look different from the others. Del Toro would have redesigned the Goblins and Wargs and the Mirkwood spiders would also have looked different from Shelob. Del Toro felt the Wargs had to be changed because "the classical incarnation of the demonic wolf in Nordic mythology is not a hyena-shaped creature".

Del Toro also wanted the animals to speak so that Smaug's speech would not be incongruous, though he explained portraying the talking animals would be more about showing that other characters can understand them. Smaug would not have a "snub Simian outhin order to achieve a dubious lip-synch". Del Toro stated that Smaug would be the first character design begun and the last to be approved.

Del Toro and Jackson considered the sudden introduction of Bard the Bowman and Bilbo's unconsciousness during the Battle of the Five Armies to be "less cinematic moments" reminiscent of the novel's greater "fairy tale world" than ''The Lord of the Rings'', and they would change them to make ''The Hobbit'' feel more like the trilogy. However, del Toro did say he considered some of these moments iconic and would require the "fairy tale logic owork as is".

Several actors were considered by del Toro for roles in the film. He wrote the part of Beorn specifically for American actor Ron Perlman. del Toro had originally considered asking Perlman to voice the dragon Smaug, but decided against this. Del Toro met with English actor Brian Blessed to discuss the possibility of him playing Thorin Oakenshield. The director later stated that he thought Ian McShane "would make the most perfect dwarf". Frequent del Toro collaborator Doug Jones said that he would love to play the Elvenking Thranduil, but del Toro later stated that he had another role (or roles) in mind for the actor. Del Toro was the one who originally pushed to cast Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown, a choice Peter Jackson later followed. While del Toro initially wanted Ian Holm to reprise the role of Bilbo Baggins, he also said that he "absolutely" supported the casting of Martin Freeman as the character, and wanted all other returning '' Lord of the Rings'' characters to be played by the original actors where possible.

In December 2012, Philippa Boyens expressed regret that del Toro's version of the film remained unmade. She revealed that it would have had a different script and visual elements, and would more closely have resembled a fairy tale. Boyens stated that the most significant script change was to Bilbo's characterisation: "It shifted and changed into someone who, rather than being slightly younger and more innocent in the world, once had a sense of longing for adventure and has lost it and become fussy and fusty."

Del Toro's departure

In 2010, del Toro left the project because of ongoing delays. On 28 May he explained at a press conference that owing to MGM's financial troubles the ''Hobbit'' project had then not been officially green-lit at the time. "There cannot be any start dates until the MGM situation gets resolved .... We have designed all the creatures. We've designed the sets and the wardrobe. We have done animatics and planned very lengthy action sequences. We have scary sequences and funny sequences and we are very, very prepared for when it's finally triggered, but we don't know anything until MGM is solved." Two days later, del Toro announced at TheOneRing.net that "In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming", he would "take leave from helming", further stating that "the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. ... I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director". Reports began to surface around the Internet about possible directors; apparently the studios wanted Jackson, but such names as Neill Blomkamp, Brett Ratner, David Yates and David Dobkin were mentioned.

However, this incident received negative reaction from many ''Hobbit'' fans, who were angry at MGM for delaying the project. They also tried willing the studio to sell their rights to Warner Bros. On 27 July, del Toro responded to these angry fans, saying that "it wasn't just MGM. These are very complicated movies, economically and politically."

On 25 June 2010, Jackson was reported to be in negotiations to direct the two-part film. On 15 October 2010, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. confirmed that ''The Hobbit'' was to proceed filming with Jackson as director and that the film would be in 3D. As well as confirming Jackson as director, the film was reported to be greenlit, with principal photography to begin in February 2011. Jackson stated that "Exploring Tolkien's Middle-earth goes way beyond a normal film-making experience. It's an all-immersive journey into a very special place of imagination, beauty and drama."

Jackson had said that del Toro's sudden exit created problems as he felt he had a very little preparation time remaining before shooting had to begin, with unfinished scripts and without storyboards, which increased the difficulty to direct it. Jackson stated, "Because Guillermo del Toro had to leave and I jumped in and took over, we didn't wind the clock back a year and a half and give me a year and a half prep to design the movie, which was different to what he was doing. It was impossible, and as a result of it being impossible I just started shooting the movie with most of it not prepped at all. You're going on to a set and you're winging it, you've got these massively complicated scenes, no storyboards and you're making it up there and then on the spot". Jackson also said, "I spent most of ''The Hobbit'' feeling like I was not on top of it. Even from a script point of view, Fran alsh Philippa oyensand I hadn't got the entire scripts written to our satisfaction, so that was a very high pressure situation". However, Jackson goes on to explain in the DVD/Blu-ray featurettes the various ways in which he and his crew overcame the obstacles encountered during filming. They found ways of making things work, even in a "very high pressure situation" in which he and his crew found themselves, especially the shooting of the Battle of the Five Armies which was shifted from 2012 to 2013 to be properly planned and shot.

Industrial dispute in New Zealand

In May 2010, New Zealand Actors Equity (NZAE) received from the film's producers a sample of the contracts it was offering to actors' agents. NZAE rejected the contracts as not conforming to its voluntary standard, in particular as regarded residuals. NZAE's parent, the Australia-based Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, contacted the International Federation of Actors, which on 24 September 2010, issued a Do Not Work order, advising members of its affiliates (including the Screen Actors Guild) that "The producers ... have refused to engage performers on union-negotiated agreements." This would subject actors who work on the film to possible expulsion from the union. In response, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema considered taking the production elsewhere, with Jackson mentioning the possibility of filming in Eastern Europe.

Partly out of fear for the Tolkien tourism effect, on 25 October 2010, thousands of New Zealanders organised protest rallies imploring that production remain in New Zealand, arguing that shifting production to locations outside New Zealand would potentially cost the country's economy up to $1.5 billion. After two days of talks with the New Zealand government (including involvement by Prime Minister John Key), Warner Bros. executives decided on 27 October to film ''The Hobbit'' in New Zealand as originally planned. In return, the government agreed to introduce legislation to remove the right of workers to organise trade unions in the film production industry and to give money to big budget films made in New Zealand. The legislation reversed a decision by the New Zealand Supreme Court called '' Bryson v Three Foot Six Ltd'' holding that under the Employment Relations Act 2000, a model maker named Mr Bryson was an "employee" who could organise a union to defend his interests. The Employment Relations (Film Production Work) Amendment Bill was introduced on 28 October 2010 after an urgency motion, allowing it to pass its final readings the next day, 66 votes in favour to 50 opposed. The government's legislation has been criticised as breaching the International Labour Organization's core ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association, and giving an unfair subsidy to protect multinational business interests.

Some have subsequently called the price (further financial subsidies and specific laws made for the producers' benefit) that New Zealand had to pay to retain the movie 'extortionate'. It was also argued that the discussion had occurred in a climate of 'hyperbole and hysteria'.

In February 2013, emails and documents released under orders of the Ombudsman showed that the union representing actors had already reached an agreement with Warner two days before 20 October protest, but Warner refused to confirm the deal publicly. One union representative said those on the march were 'patsies' that had been fooled into thinking the production would be taken offshore. Further emails released showed Government ministers knew a deal had been reached a week before the protest, despite claiming negotiations were still happening.

From two to three films

The project had been envisaged as two parts as early as 2006, but the proposed contents of the parts changed during development. MGM expressed interest in a second film in 2006, set between ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. Jackson concurred, stating that "one of the drawbacks of ''The Hobbit'' is it's relatively lightweight compared to ''LOTR'' 'The Lord of the Rings''.... There's a lot of sections in which a character like Gandalf disappears for a while – he references going off to meet with the White Council, who are actually characters like Galadriel and Saruman and people that we see in ''Lord of the Rings''. He mysteriously vanishes for a while and then comes back, but we don't really know what goes on." Jackson was also interested in showing Gollum's journey to Mordor and Aragorn setting a watch on the Shire.

After his hiring in 2008, del Toro confirmed the sequel would be about "trying to reconcile the facts of the first movie with a slightly different point of view. You would be able to see events that were not witnessed in the first." He also noted the story must be drawn from only what is mentioned in ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', as they do not have the rights to '' The Silmarillion'' and '' Unfinished Tales''. Del Toro also added (before writing began) that if they could not find a coherent story for the second film, they would just film ''The Hobbit'', stating "''The Hobbit'' is better contained in a single film and kept brisk and fluid with no artificial 'break point'." By November 2008, he acknowledged that the book was more detailed and eventful than people may remember. He decided to abandon the "bridge film" concept, feeling that it would be better for the two parts to contain only material from ''The Hobbit'':

Del Toro said that he was faced with two possible places to split the story, including Smaug's defeat. He noted the second film would need to end by leading directly into '' The Fellowship of the Ring''. In June 2009, del Toro revealed he had decided where to divide the story based on comments from fans about signifying a change in Bilbo's relationship with the dwarves. The second film's story would also have depended on how many actors could have reprised their roles.

Although ''The Hobbit'' was originally made as a two-part film, on 30 July 2012, Jackson confirmed plans for a third film, turning his adaptation of ''The Hobbit'' into a trilogy. According to Jackson, the third film would make extensive use of the appendices that Tolkien wrote to expand the story of Middle-earth (published in the back of ''The Return of the King''). While the third film, which as its title indicates, depicts the Battle of the Five Armies, largely made use of footage originally shot for the first and second films, it required additional filming as well. The second film was retitled ''The Desolation of Smaug'' and the third film was titled ''There and Back Again'' in August 2012. On 24 April 2014, the third film was renamed ''The Battle of the Five Armies''. On the title change, Jackson said, "''There and Back Again'' felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo's arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived "there" in the ''Desolation of Smaug''". Shaun Gunner, the chairman of The Tolkien Society, supported the decision: "‘''The Battle of the Five Armies''’ much better captures the focus of the film but also more accurately channels the essence of the story."

Cast

The following is a list of cast members who voiced or portrayed characters appearing in ''The Hobbit'' films.

Casting

Martin Freeman was cast in early October 2010 in the role of Bilbo Baggins. He had earlier turned the role down because of scheduling conflicts with the BBC television series '' Sherlock''. On his casting, Peter Jackson was quoted as saying, "Despite the various rumours and speculation surrounding this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us. There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin Freeman. He is intelligent, funny, surprising and brave—exactly like Bilbo and I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce that he is our Hobbit."

Several other actors including Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, Graham McTavish as Dwalin, Aidan Turner as Kíli, Mark Hadlow as Dori, John Callen as Óin, Stephen Hunter as Bombur and Peter Hambleton as Glóin were cast later that October. On the casting of Armitage, Jackson was quoted as saying, "Richard is one of the most exciting and dynamic actors working on screen today and we know he is going to make an amazing Thorin Oakenshield. We cannot wait to start this adventure with him and feel very lucky that one of the most beloved characters in Middle Earth is in such good hands." McTavish was quoted on his casting, "I think that I would be very lucky indeed if ever again in my career, I was offered an opportunity that was going to be so iconic in its influence and scale with regards to ''The Hobbit''. I can't think of anything comparable." On the casting of Turner, Jackson stated, "Aidan is a wonderfully gifted young actor who hails from Ireland. I'm sure he will bring enormous heart and humor to the role of Kíli." On the casting of Hadlow, Jackson said, "I have worked with Mark Hadlow on many projects 'Meet the Feebles'' and ''King Kong (2005 film)">King Kong