Listen, we like Ian McKellan, he’s a nice guy and a great actor, but he should really just cool it with “The Hobbit” prognosticating already. At least in public.
The thespian has hit Twitter today to assuage Middle Earthers that: “‘Hobbit’ sets are ready, script ready and movie is casting this month. Fans are not to worry” and even more “The films will get made. I suspect we’ll start shooting at end of this year.” We’d love to believe him, but his track record is terrible.
Remember last August when he said the movie had cast its Bilbo Baggins and he was expecting a script to arrive at any moment? Or last fall when he said the movie would shoot in the spring? Or even this spring when he said the film would shoot this summer?
Sorry Ian, we’re sure Peter Jackson and everyone else is telling you not to take Christmas vacation in the Bahamas this year, in the hopes that the project can clear its many hurdles and hopefully get in front of cameras by the end of the year. But the film needs a greenlight first before any director or cast can be brought on board in anything resembling an official capacity. And as Jackson himself noted earlier this year, any talk of start dates without a greenlight is simply premature and deals for actors can’t be put in place until there is money to give them now.
Now, is Peter Jackson potentially meeting with directors and actors? We don’t doubt it. But the elephant in the room is MGM. They simply have no money. Just yesterday news arrived that they shelved the upcoming “Red Dawn” because they wouldn’t have any funds to promote it. While it is possible that something is happening behind the scenes that would allow MGM to stabilize and the project to move foward, we figure McKellan’s knowledge about what is happening is about as good as ours. Hell, just look at how long it’s taking Disney to finalize a deal for Miramax. The MGM situation is like that but multiplied ten times over. There is simply no quick fix.
That said, yes, scripts and sets are surely ready, after all, the film has been in development for two years. “The Hobbit” is pretty much good to go if and when money is found to fund this thing. But until it does, McKellan’s guess is really as good as ours as to when it might happen.
