The Hobbit will begin filming this coming February, and will be directed by Peter Jackson.

Martin Freeman Cast as Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit” is a post from Fantasy Folder

Deadline.com is reporting that Peter Jackson, executive producer of The Hobbit and director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is stepping in to fill the role of director. (Lord of the Rings fans have been hoping this would be the case.) A contract is being negotiated with Warner Brothers.

Jackson seemed the obvious person to take his place as the director of the JRR Tolkien novel, particularly to keep those release dates on track. While he has been engaged with Steven Spielberg on the Tin Tin films, Jackson has been a creative partner with del Toro from the beginning. He certainly knows the terrain better than anyone alive, having shot three installments of The Lord of the Rings during a single production stint.

Peter Jackson to Replace Del Toro as Director of “The Hobbit” is a post from Fantasy Folder

BURBANK, Calif., April 20, 2010 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group announced today the acquisition of Turbine, Inc., the largest privately-held online gaming studio in North America, further strengthening Warner Bros.’ position as one of the industry’s fastest growing, full-scale games publishers.

Let that sink in a little. Not only has Warner Brothers bought-up New Line Cinema, the movie studio behind the Lord of the Rings films, they now own all of the Lord of the Rings gaming rights.

Previously, Warner Bros. held all The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) games rights, with the exception of the literary MMO (massively multiplayer online game) rights. Now all games rights for the LOTR franchise will be unified under the Warner Bros. shield.

If that wasn’t enough, WB also acquired Traveler’s Tales, one of the companies behind the LEGO videogame franchises. (e.g. LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones.)

What will this mean for Dungeons and Dragons Online, with its unique free-to-play-but-with-paid-extras business model? Will the ever-expanding media giant mainly leave Turbine to their own devices, or will they start interfering with things? Only time will tell.

Press release [Turbine]

Warner Acquires Lord Of The Rings MMO Dev Turbine [Gamasutra]

Warner Brothers Acquires Turbine is a post from Fantasy Folder

The Tolkien Trust’a British charitable trust representing the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) “sued to stop the further production of films based on the author’s work, and sought payment of at least $220 million based on the three Lord of the Rings films directed by Peter Jackson and released by New Line (a division of Warner Brothers). Their claim was that, under a 1969 contract, the trust and the other Tolkien heirs are entitled to 7.5% of gross receipts from films and related products.”

This is good news for LOTR fans everywhere. The two Hobbit films will continue as planned.

New Line and the Tolkien Estate Reach Settlement is a post from Fantasy Folder

Well, no, but the Hobbiton set from the Lord of the Rings movies is being set back up for the upcoming prequel, The Hobbit. The set was stripped down after the completion of the trilogy, save for the frames of the 17 Hobbit holes.

But now fruit trees are being planted, hedgerows are being groomed and new hillocks are being marked off as the sites of more hobbit homes.

Filming is scheduled to begin in March.

Hobbiton: Under Construction is a post from Fantasy Folder

There have long been rumors that there would be a second film bridging the sixty years between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, but the filmmakers have debunked that speculation.

Del Toro: “We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur.”

Jackson: “We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie. The essential brief was to do The Hobbit, and it allows us to make The Hobbit in a little more style, if you like, of the [LOTR] trilogy.“

The Hobbit really does have a lot of material crammed into one book, and there are likely other writings of Tolkien that could round-out the films.

“The Hobbit” to be Two Films is a post from Fantasy Folder

I have put forward a Naming Proposal to the NZ Geographic Board to name a stretch of the Upper Waiau River between Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as “Anduin Reach“. This section was not only featured strongly in the Fellowship of the Ring but it is now a tourist attraction as well, soon to be more popular as a new Cycle Trail is destined to run down it’s bank.

The One Ring has the full story.

New Zealand “Anduin Reach” Naming Effort is a post from Fantasy Folder

You may already know that the movie’s director will be Guillermo del Toro, but according to a recent posting over at FirstShowing.net, he will also be writing the screenplay in partnership with Peter Jackson.

There’s not a single thing to be worried about here, given it was Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens who wrote the screenplays for all three Lord of the Rings. And Guillermo is an accomplished writer as well, so if anything, this is reassuring that they decided not to risk letting someone else mess up the adaptation instead. Both Hobbit films will still be shot simultaneously, with filming tentatively set to start in late 2009. The first film is expected to arrive sometime in 2011, so get ready for one hell of a triumphant return.

Read the entire story over at First Showing: Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro Writing Hobbit Themselves.

“The Hobbit” to be Written by Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro is a post from Fantasy Folder