The long and winding road to "The Hobbit"

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit." J.R.R. Tolkien's legendary scribble that ultimately led to one of the most popular books in the history of popular culture also led to one of the most labyrinthine legal battles the film world has ever known. With the dust finally having settled a couple of years ago and the now trilogy due to kick off in theaters in a scant two months time The Hollywood Reporter has done an impressive job of chronicling The Hobbit's filmic genome. 

I followed most of the last decade's worth of this sordid tale as it unfolded in the media and there were many times I personally was ready to throw up my hands and conclude that it just wasn't meant to be. But you can't keep a valuable property down and here we are today with the first film ready to go, the second one in post and the third (!) getting ready for some additional shooting early in 2013. In spite of the questionable assertion that the trilogy will wind up costing a billion dollars to produce (an assertion that seems intended to create a snazzy headline more than anything else) the article as a whole is excellent. A must read for anyone who's followed the saga of making the saga.

Read the article here.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit"