“The Hobbit”: Peace in Middle-Earth?

October 5, 2007

Last month, in the academic journal Science, paleontologists presented new evidence that they had discovered an overlooked relative of prehistoric man. Officially, they’ve labeled the species Homo floresiensis — unofficially, they’re calling them ”hobbits” — but by any other name what they’ve found are the 18,000-year-old fossilized remains of a three-foot-tall hominid with a recessed chin and a brain the size of a Wiffle ball.

Now the legal battle that’s kept The Lord of the Rings’ prequel, The Hobbit, hung up for years — a bitter feud between Rings director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema co-chairman Robert Shaye — may finally be nearing resolution.

At this writing, no agreements have been announced and details of the negotiations are sketchy, but sources close to the talks tell us that they’re detecting a lot less frost in the air, and that a deal may be reached that could help usher J.R.R. Tolkien’s maiden Middle-earth masterpiece to screens before the end of the decade. ”There has been a detente,” says one insider. There is now the beginning of a discourse between Peter Jackson and New Line that’s running parallel to the litigation proceedings.”

In Hollywood, any movement on this long-stalled project is major news. It was The Hobbit, after all, that first introduced the world to the lovely and terrifying universe of Middle-earth. The novel is set about 60 years before Lord of the Rings, and for many readers who dove into Tolkien’s work as kids, it retains a warmer glow in memory than the daunting and sometimes slow-moving trilogy. The story has precisely the same themes — of loyalty and unexpected bravery — that made the Rings series huge.

And by huge we mean gargantuan, with each film earning about a billion dollars worldwide between 2001 and 2003, along with 17 Oscars, including ones for Best Director and Best Picture. In Hollywood, in other words, The Hobbit is that rarest of magical creatures — a sure thing.