I have often wondered why Dragonlance died here on the blog. From a business perspective one could be excused for believing that the world of Dragonlance would be a perfect platform for expanding into several different areas such as toys, movies and so on. Now, I am not going to go into a long discourse about this subject here, however, I will point to the Star Wars franchise as a blue print for how this could be done.

I am definitely getting my Star Wars on these days. I am reading the Thrawn trilogy, and I spend time scouring the internet for news about the The Force Awakens. There are many interesting aspects of the way Disney approaches the rejuvenation of Start Wars that are similar to the way especially Marvel but also DC has managed their story lines. I wonder if there are lessons in here that might have worked for Dragonlance?

This is going to be so great.

Via TheOneRing.net

In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit…

Wellington, NZ, March 21, 2011—Production has commenced in Wellington, New Zealand, on “The Hobbit,” filmmaker Peter Jackson’s two film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s widely read masterpiece.

“The Hobbit” is set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

The two films, with screenplays by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson, will be shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Filming will take place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

“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.

Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.

Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Martin Freeman takes the title role as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen returns in the role of Gandalf the Grey. The Dwarves are played by Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield), Ken Stott (Balin), Graham McTavish (Dwalin), William Kircher (Bifur) James Nesbitt (Bofur), Stephen Hunter (Bombur), Rob Kazinsky (Fili), Aidan Turner (Kili), Peter Hambleton (Gloin), John Callen (Oin), Jed Brophy (Nori), Mark Hadlow (Dori) and Adam Brown (Ori). Reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy are Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Andy Serkis as Gollum and Elijah Wood as Frodo. Jeffrey Thomas and Mike Mizrahi also join the cast as Dwarf Kings Thror and Thrain, respectively. Further casting announcements are expected.

“The Hobbit” is produced by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, alongside Carolynne Cunningham. Executive producers are Ken Kamins and Zane Weiner, with Philippa Boyens as co-producer. The Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, also from the production team of Jackson and Walsh, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box office. In 2003, “The Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture – the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time.

Read more here

Very nice indeed 🙂

TORn staffer Garfeimao has some thoughts on what comes next for fans as “The Hobbit” moves into its new status as a full-fledged in-production film. She writes:

So now we have the greenlight, what comes next?

When the Hobbit was first announced two years ago, it didn’t take long for fans to start fantasy-casting the project. At the time, no one really understood the scope of how long it actually takes to get a project of this size and magnitude off the ground. And under normal circumstances, it was only supposed to take a year, which we now know stretched into more. With the greenlight on the project now, the casting can begin in earnest, or at least, once the Actor’s Equity situation is resolved one way or another. That should be the last hurdle in the way of this project getting off the ground and moving forward. But what really does come next?

I would expect the next tangible announcement to be a resolution to the Actor’s Equity question in New Zealand. Without this resolution, there is no certainty of where the films will be shot or if any actors under consideration will risk censure from their respective Unions or Guilds. My guess, and I’ll emphasize that this is a guess, is that the resolution is very near simply based on the fact that the studios felt confident in announcing the greenlight without the resolution finalized. Heck, the studios didn’t even wait for the MGM bankruptcy situation to get underway. I do not want to conjecture which direction this Actor’s Equity resolution will fall on, but it does need to happen in order to clear the way for casting to begin.

Continue at Source: TheOneRing.Net

This is very good news indeed, although it will take a couple of years before the movies are released.

I thought this was worth sharing.

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