The Hobbit Film a Few Years Away

[Highroller]

Oscar winning director Peter Jackson says it will be at least three years before he shoots The Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit.

Jackson recently took a break from his busy schedule filming the remake of a hollywood classic, King Kong to attend Sydney's Powerhouse Museum and view The Lord of the Rings exhibition. The exhibition which closes on March 31, includes memorabilia, sets, costumes and props from the hit film trilogy which took in almost $3 billion dollars at the box office and garnered 17 Oscars.

During the trip Jackson was asked how long it would be before he started production on The Hobbit.

"Three or four years would be accurate, I would say", said Jackson.

Jackson said he was keen to return to Middle Earth, but with the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, The Hobbit currently split between two major hollywood studios, MGM and New Line Cinema, and the recent sale of MGM to the Sony Corporation has made the project's future unclear.

"I think there is probably a will and a desire to try and get it made," said Jackson. "But I think it's gonna be a lot of lawyers sitting around trying to trash out a deal before it will ever happen."

"It's great that the film has got such an after life", Jackson said. More than 140,000 people have seen the Lord of the Rings exhibition since it opened.

[nikkiblue]

Oh my goodness! Another LOTR movie?