Mikey ponders films about Hobbits and what it takes to create a successful franchise. 

What do Eragon, The Seeker, and the Golden Compass have in common? And what do they have to do with The Hobbit?  

As it turns out they have quite a lot in common or perhaps its what they don't have in common that binds them...that thing being An Audience. All three were picked up to become the next Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter franchise, and all three seem to have died a quick death.  

But why?

The first thing is simply the source material. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are both spawned from very strong source material and both have been handled by really talented and smart people along the way. Eragon is a sloppy book at best, and those other two don't seem much better (though I cannot personally confirm that).

The second thing is that making a series from a book to screen is a tricky slippery slope, not everything from the page can make it on screen so good solid choices have to be made along the way. Peter Jackson knows this and Sam Raimi does as well.These films take vision and they need someone in charge who isn't easily bossed around by the bean counters as well...once the studio VP's start messin about in the kitchen it's a sure fire bet a mess will be made.

What's that got to do with Peter Jackson and Hobbits? LOADS actually. New Line all but shit in Jackson's shepards pie after they had the LOTR Trilogy sewn up.

A battle over cash that looked as if it would last till Tom Bombadil came home. Then very suddenly things changed...New Line and Jackson settled up old scores and announced The Hobbit would be coming to town after all (2 of them actually) and that Jackson would be at the very least producing (and rumors of Raimi directing keep circling).

With all these franchise flicks dying early deaths is it really any wonder that they (*ahem* Bob Shaye) would go "back to formula" as it were? Most of the LOTR cast have said they would never return without Jackson for the Hobbit (those who are in The Hobbit obviously) and with fans being savy in this day and age lets face it while a Jackson-less Hobbit movie would have a certain amount of box office success it certainly wont knock it out of the park without him.  Perhaps the Bankers are finally bowing to the artists?

You can bet other studio's are feeling the pinch as well; The Spider-man franchise could really go south without Sam around. For the moment and Xaviers School For Gifted Youngsters (X-men) is all but closed and only seeing spin-offs....and with Harry Potter coming to a close sooner than later I'm sure the next few years could see some serious scrambling for a new cash cow.

No matter how this all came about I'm glad Jackson is part of the Hobbit, if for nothing else perhaps to complete the story without dramatically changing the overall look and feel of the entire Middle Earth saga. Plus it?s just the right thing to do for everyone especially the fans.  Mind you I've never been as fond of the Hobbit book as I was for Lord of the Rings but considering how Jackson shaved certain elements in favor of adding others I'm very interested to see what he comes up with.

It will be very interesting to see how well the The Spiderwick Chronicles do when they come out, of all the would be new fantasy franchises this one looks a cut above the rest and may stand a chance at some success.....but only time will tell.  For the time being take a look at some of the numbers for all these films.. pretty scary stuff I'll bet from a studio accountants point of view I'll bet.

By the numbers:
Seeker: The Dark is Rising: Price Tag $20M (Estimated) Opening Weekend:  $3.75M (USA) Grossed: $23.6M
The Golden Compass: Price Tag: 180M Opening Weekend:  $25.8M  (USA)
Grossed: 186M
Eragon: Price Tagt: $100M (estimated) Opening Weekend:  $23.2M (USA)
Grossed: $245M (Worldwide)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Price Tag: $125M (estimated) Opening Weekend:  $90.3M (USA)  
Grossed: $969M (Worldwide)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Price Tag: $93M (estimated)  Opening Weekend:  $66.1M (USA)
Grossed: $861M (Worldwide)

Keep in mind these numbers don't include those huge price tags for marketing. If you add in the 100M plus estimated campaign for The Golden Compass to the price tag its a far bigger blood bath to behold.  

It's unlikely that we'll see Eragon's other stories fly on the big screen any time soon, nor will anyone be Seeking the sequels for dark is rising, and it's likely that any follow up's for the Golden Compass will be lost in translation as well.  

Things keep going south for these fantasy epic flicks we might even see Leonard Part 7 hitting screens in 2009.  

 

No one has commented on this article.

Please keep your comments brief and on topic, and remember that this is not a discussion thread.
Name :		Title :
	Text ColorAquaBlackBlueFuchsiaGrayGreenLimeMaroonNavyOlivePurpleRedSilverTealWhiteYellow
Comment(s) :
Verify :		The opposite of BOY is ?

---