Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit‘ movie has picked up some news this week with talk that it could get ‘The Lord Of the Rings‘ trilogy treatment

Peter Jackson got ‘The Hobbit‘ fans worked up when he suggested a third film in the series, and we’re hearing that the first two will pretty much stay the same while the third one would make extensive use of appendices in The Lord of the Rings referring to events in the earlier tome and the 80-year period between the two novels. Naturally, he’s at the mercy of the studio, but after everything he’s been through trying to get this film made, you can be sure that Jackson will fight hard to make this happen.

“We have an incredible source material with the appendices,” Jackson said. “The Hobbit is obviously a novel, but we also have the rights to use this 125 pages of additional notes, where Tolkien expanded the world of The Hobbit published at the end of Return of the King.

“[Hobbit producer] Fran Walsh and I have been talking to the studio about other things we haven’t been able to shoot, and seeing if we could persuade them to do a few more weeks of shooting – probably more than a few weeks, actually, next year – and what form that would actually end up taking. The discussions are pretty early. So there isn’t really anything to report, but there’s other parts of the story that we’d like to tell that we haven’t been able to tell yet.”

For those that can remember The Hobbit’s long long gestation since the beginning (I’m talking way back in the Guillermo del Toro days), there was talk of just one movie based on the novel, and then one that would serve as a bridge leading up to The Lord of the Rings. Jackson changed his mind and went with a pair of movies based entirely on The Hobbit, so the third film could include some of the material originally planned original second movie bridge. Basically, the third film will pull from the appendices which will take a lot of artistic license since those aren’t the most exciting. This would turn into more time with Gandalf’s meeting with the White Council, mentioned in The Hobbit but not depicted, and even a recreation of Aragorn’s early struggles, or his long hunt for the creature Gollum (this would make for a high-profile return for Viggo Mortensen). Mortensen’s been low on the radar, even though he’s been doing some really good films, but this would put him back out there again, and he’s more than ready to work with Jackson again.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Movie Synopsis

“The Hobbit” follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.