Yeah, the Bilbo / Frod scenes are pretty certain to be the beginning and the end of the two-part duology.

Not sure where the break will be....perhaps..SPOILER... the killing of Smaug?

They're probably turning it more into a prequel to LOTR than The Hobbit actually was.

I think at its heart it will be the Hobbit, though they definately need to amp up the action and tension, people want to see thoughtful linkages to LOTRs which it precedes

I'm guessing from the comments that no one has actually read The Hobbit - - it is a wonderfully self-contained classic children's story.

It doesn't require Hollywoodization to finally fix it and make it good.

You are guessing wrong.

I haven't read The Hobbit , nor have i read any of the Harry Potters. I'm more a film person.

Though i think i know enough already after reading people's thoughts to decipher what the movie is about. Regardless, i feel they need to show scenes (here and there) that offer linkages back to LOTRs, it's afterall one whole story and to bring it into the LOTR fold will only help it. I do not want just another repeat of FOTR in the first part of the Hobbit, they need to create more tension and action.

Your tolerance for bastardization must be extraordinarily high..

No, it's not. I'd rather have the novel filmed fairly faithfully (though Tolkien himself has written several notes about the events happening during the time of The Hobbit in his appendix to ROTK).

All I was saying is that I have read the novel and that many times.

Um... what?

FOTR was the shit. And there was plenty of tension, maybe not as much action but i didn't miss it, i was too mesmerized to notice!

Well The hobbit basically travels in a similar direction at the start, i.e. to Rivendell

That may sound sacrilegious to some but if a had to chose, i'd rather have a great movie than a faithful adaptation. You can have both, LOTR proved that, even if some may disagree.

The direction may be similar but the adventures will be different.

A rather faithful adaptation of this pretty cinematic novel would make for a great movie. Win/win.

I'm with Nazgul9, though since i haven't read the books i come in with not a lot of baggage Though i hope they honour Tolkien with a fantastic adaptation, just like LOTRs.

Hmm, I'm wondering how big this film will be in Germany. LOTR is extremely beloved and the franchise is much bigger here than Harry Potter with all three films staying above 10 million admissions. Anything less than 9 million for this would disappoint me.

HP1 still leads all LOTRs,admissions is no longer what it used to be...

Well, Avatar has shown that huge admissions numbers are still possible as it got 11+ million. Also Ice Age 3 broke 8 million in the same year.

Though Avatar absolutely blitz everywthing else in the other markets, admissions is not what it used to be i'm afriad. I'll be happy to see more than 8m adms. for Hobbit.

Oh, my, a fantastic new video blog just went up on Facebook.

All dwarfs are there to see (they look better in motion), watch out for a few surprise guests.

The beginning cracked me up. That's why i love PJ, he just comes across genuine and it's not beneath him to fool around in front of the camera.

Crap, i'm at work, i'll go home to watch this with full sound.

It is now time, let's watch...

OMG Fuck, i'm just two minutes in and i must post this...the dwarves look fantastic

FUCK, just saw Kili and Fili.....they look so much better already.....this is orgasmic my hope has been renewed....

Fuck, Adam Brown is so cute funny and so hot....i love Ori. Also Nori's hair is not as out there when you see the back.....

I think with them in costumes it just bulks up and dwarfs up their image so much more. I am really digging this.

Fuck, Galadriel is at Rivendell? Her costume is superb, and Elrod, much more color this time. I am so happy....