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Hobbit/LOTR Reboot

troiano220
The Shire

Jul 23 2014, 8:14pm

Post #1 of 23 (3782 views)
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Hobbit/LOTR Reboot Can't Post

Do you think it would ever be possible that The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings gets a reboot in the future? If Star Trek can get a successful reboot, I think it's possible anything can get redone. So maybe as soon as 10 or 15 years from now, do you think it could happen? Guillermo del Torro reboot perhaps?


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 23 2014, 8:48pm

Post #2 of 23 (3625 views)
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More likely remakes rather than a reboot. [In reply to] Can't Post

Even if we get no more Middle-earth movies under the auspices of The Saul Zaentz Company/Middle-earth Enterprises, the books will enter public domain eventually. Probably not with Guillermo del Toro. Then we have the prospect of adaptations that take liberties that might make even Peter Jackson cry out in horror. Imagine The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings in a steampunk setting. Or set within an ageing galactic empire. Or a comic-book series where major characters have been gender-bent into buxom, young (or young-looking) women.

'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring


DanielLB
Immortal


Jul 23 2014, 9:39pm

Post #3 of 23 (3599 views)
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I'd only be interested under certain circumastances [In reply to] Can't Post

Anything is plausible. Is it likely to happen? Maybe, maybe not. I can't imagine it will happen in the next 10-15 years. I can imagine plenty of spin-offs and non-canon movies though (Aragorn and Arwen, War of the North, the Rangers, the Hunt for Gollum, the Blue Wizards etc ...) The door is always open for those movies, and there is always a demand for extending successful franchises as well. Star Wars, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, X-Men, The Mummy and Disney's Cars are all good examples. None of them have been "rebooted" (nor likely to ever be), but they do have official spin-offs (in various forms).

If there was to be a complete reboot of the franchise, then I would only be interested under certain circumstances.

For instance, there would have to be at least 6 movies for The Lord of the Rings. If they were going to reboot the trilogy, it would be no good rehashing the old one. It would have to be markedly different, and an improvement of PJ's adaptations. Therefore, it would have to stick closer to the book. The Hobbit should be shot first, and The Lord of the Rings an immediate sequel. I'd like the Tolkien Estate involved in some shape or form. And I wouldn't want a TV adaptation either - generally, the budget is much more restrictive.

Who knows ... perhaps someone on this very forum might be the person to do it!


(This post was edited by DanielLB on Jul 23 2014, 9:49pm)


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Jul 23 2014, 9:49pm

Post #4 of 23 (3583 views)
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Eventually, sure. [In reply to] Can't Post

There have been, what, three King Kong movies made? (Not including King Kong-influenced ones.) And how many Dracula ones? When you have a big story with a large fan-base, there are dollars to be had down the line with another director taking a fresh shot at telling it again.

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

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troiano220
The Shire


Jul 23 2014, 9:59pm

Post #5 of 23 (3589 views)
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Copyright [In reply to] Can't Post

If Christopher Tolkien and the Tolkien estate keep renewing the copyright, it may never become public domain


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 23 2014, 10:03pm

Post #6 of 23 (3582 views)
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Copyright can only be extended so far. [In reply to] Can't Post

At least in the States. I'm not sure how it works in the U.K.

'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring


troiano220
The Shire


Jul 23 2014, 10:13pm

Post #7 of 23 (3577 views)
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Spinoffs [In reply to] Can't Post

Good point. I remember reading something where Richard Armitage said he would be up for doing a Thorin prequel movie


Moahunter
Rohan


Jul 23 2014, 11:16pm

Post #8 of 23 (3571 views)
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Is the copyright situation different for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings because JRRTolkien was the sole author.... [In reply to] Can't Post

but might be more complex for the later books?


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 23 2014, 11:22pm

Post #9 of 23 (3566 views)
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Probably, yes. [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
Is the copyright situation different for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings because JRR Tolkien was the sole author.... but might be more complex for the later books?



I am not an expert, but that is my understanding. Because Christopher Tolkien can be considered to be a co-author, the later works will be protected by copyright for a long time to come.

What we could get through the existing license is spin offs from the existing films that do not directly reference works not covered by the screenrights (LotR: War of the North; The Journeys of Aragorn, etc.). Potentially, that could also include prequels to upcoming Middle-earth video games (such as Shadows of Mordor).

'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring

(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Jul 23 2014, 11:27pm)


AshNazg
Gondor


Jul 24 2014, 12:30am

Post #10 of 23 (3583 views)
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Tell you what I'm interested in... [In reply to] Can't Post

A well made fan series in the style of Rankin/Bass to fill in the missing chapters, or a Bakshi sequel - Maybe off of Kickstarter. Or even a new animated reboot by small independent movie makers.

But I don't think that'll ever happen.

I think any reboot is likely to suffer the same problems as the current versions - audiences will expect big action and special effects, so it would have to be even bigger an louder and that's just not Middle-earth in my eyes. I'd love to see a quieter, slower, more subtle take on the story but general audiences wouldn't react well to that. Frown


troiano220
The Shire


Jul 24 2014, 2:45am

Post #11 of 23 (3573 views)
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HBO [In reply to] Can't Post

An HBO mini-series seems like an appropriate place for something like that


DaughterofLaketown
Gondor


Jul 24 2014, 11:57pm

Post #12 of 23 (3533 views)
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I would be okay with that if they didnt make it to um explicit? [In reply to] Can't Post

Crazy


troiano220
The Shire


Jul 25 2014, 4:59am

Post #13 of 23 (3527 views)
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Explicity [In reply to] Can't Post

The only explicit Tolkien content I can think of besides violence might be Turin Turambar finding his sister naked or Saeros running through the woods naked. Other than that, I don't forsee much sexual content like GoT does


grammaboodawg
Immortal


Jul 25 2014, 10:28am

Post #14 of 23 (3507 views)
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Sure... there's always that possibility [In reply to] Can't Post

IMHO, the Star Trek film and television reboot has been quite successful and well done. So has Doctor Who. Star Wars is an example of missing the target enough to make me dis-interested in the last few installments; but I'm waiting to see what they next round of CPR might do for it.

A reboot is pretty inevitable for a franchise as successful as LotR/Hobbit; but the coat-tail-riders better have a care and do it right! ;)



6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observation List - May 15, 2014



sample

"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West."

I'm SO HAPPY these new films take me back to that magical world!!



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squire
Half-elven


Jul 25 2014, 1:03pm

Post #15 of 23 (3518 views)
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What's the difference between a reboot and a remake? [In reply to] Can't Post

I have always thought that a reboot was when a continuing series of films, having built up a storyline and well-understood character arcs, abandons them all and spins a new series using only the very basic original concept and core character names. Since a series is the underlying original material, I thought reboot would only apply to a sequence of films that are based on a comic book or TV show.

Whereas a remake, to me, is when there is a single story - not a series - that has been adapted to film/video, and then gets adapted a second time, etc. In each case the producers make the usual adaptation decisions regarding compression of story, omission of subplots, and changes of character. But since no series is involved, each new film is simply re-made from the original source. They all stay close to it, so the idea of a re-boot (going back to the beginning, restarting the computer, etc.) is not applicable.

Is it because many fans assume The Hobbit is a 'prequel' to LotR, implying a fantasy series when Tolkien never saw it that way, that the term reboot is so often used when talking about a remake of the films of Tolkien's books? I've never heard that the New Line films of the 2000s were a reboot of Bakshi and Rankin/Bass animated films from the late 1970s; the films by Jackson are remakes of the two Tolkien books. And any new films of Tolkien's books would thus be remakes as well... no?



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Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 25 2014, 1:40pm

Post #16 of 23 (3497 views)
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Define by examples. [In reply to] Can't Post

I mostly agree. Here's how I think of it:

Reboots: Abrams' Star Trek; the new Planet of the Apes films; Nolan's Batman trilogy.

Remakes: King Kong (1976) and King Kong (2005); The Maltese Falcon (1941) was first made into a movie in 1931; Fist Full of Dollars was a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, just as The Magnificent Seven was a remake of Seven Samurai. Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes film.

'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring


troiano220
The Shire


Jul 25 2014, 10:14pm

Post #17 of 23 (3475 views)
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Well said [In reply to] Can't Post

Great point. I hadn't thought about considering the terminology that accurately. I just threw out the word reboot because that seems to be used frequently nowadays. So a remake is more accurately what I was asking about in the original post. Thanks for the check


troiano220
The Shire


Jul 25 2014, 10:17pm

Post #18 of 23 (3485 views)
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Agreed [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
A reboot is pretty inevitable for a franchise as successful as LotR/Hobbit; but the coat-tail-riders better have a care and do it right! ;)


As mentioned earlier in this topic, the remake would either have to be bigger and louder than the PJ films, which would be less faithful to the original text, or more accurate to the original text, therefore proving to be a possible more boring blockbuster experience. This is why I think an HBO mini-series would do the LOTR/Hobbit justice. Hopefully the Tolkien estate gives up the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales rights too, which in that case I would also hope to see it go to HBO


IdrilLalaith
Rivendell


Jul 26 2014, 7:12pm

Post #19 of 23 (3467 views)
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That doesn't mean they won't add it [In reply to] Can't Post

I've heard that HBO insists on full frontal nudity in all of its shows, claiming that's why people watch the channel. I don't know if this is accurate anymore (I read it in an interview about a show in the 90s).

TolkienBlog.com


DaughterofLaketown
Gondor


Jul 26 2014, 10:59pm

Post #20 of 23 (3463 views)
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This is what infuriates me! [In reply to] Can't Post

Why do people need to have stuff shoved in our faces to enjoy a show?!


IdrilLalaith
Rivendell


Jul 27 2014, 6:12am

Post #21 of 23 (3457 views)
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Completely agree [In reply to] Can't Post

To be blunt, you can find porn on the internet. Why do you need to put it (or something a little softer) in tv shows and movies?

TolkienBlog.com


Darkstone
Immortal


Jul 28 2014, 2:21pm

Post #22 of 23 (3442 views)
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Yes. [In reply to] Can't Post

A reboot discards the continuity of a series. A remake tells a similar story with minor or major changes. (For example, Shakespeare's play Richard III is transplanted to a fascistic 1930s Great Britain in a 1995 remake starring Ian McKellen. Very highly recommended. BTW, does that mean that all stage plays are remakes after the opening night?)

So Star Wars VII will be a reboot, as all the post-SW VI continuity of the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels is being discarded.

Oddly enough, it can be argued that SW IV, V, and VI (and portions of SW I) taken as a whole constitutes a remake of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958) so if the series was ever remade it would be a reboot of a remake.

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weaver
Half-elven


Jul 28 2014, 10:13pm

Post #23 of 23 (3436 views)
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I would like to see another version of both... [In reply to] Can't Post

I like the Jackson films, esp. LOTR, but I always felt it would be nice to have another version (other than the animated ones) so that they could be contrasted/compared with another film maker's attempt. Itt's hard to be the only guy on that pedestal, you know?

And for those Tolkien fans who did not like the Jackson films, I would love them to have the opportunity to see a version that works for them as well as the Jackson films did for me....

Weaver


 
 

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