It's official: TABA is now "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:13 pm

https://www.facebook.com/PeterJacksonNZ/posts/10152332243996558

Peter Jackson wrote:Inside Information...

Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo's own, with hidden paths revealing their secrets to us as we've gone along. “There and Back Again” felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo’s arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived “there” in the "Desolation of Smaug".

When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.

And so: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" it is.

As Professor Tolkien intended, “There and Back Again” encompasses Bilbo’s entire adventure, so don’t be surprised if you see it used on a future box-set of all three movies.

Before then however, we have a film to finish, and much to share with you. It’s been a nice quiet time for us—Jabez and I happily editing away in a dark cave in Wellington—but those halcyon days are quickly coming to an end. It will soon be time to step into the light. Expect to see and hear much about The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in the coming months.

And there’s also The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Cut, which we’re in the process of finishing, with over 25 mins of new scenes, all scored with original music composed by Howard Shore.

It’ll be a fun year!

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:15 pm

"Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo's own"

Who's Bilbo? Thought this was about Thorin.

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:16 pm

That's a pretty dumb subtitle for the movie. Rolling Eyes

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:17 pm

"It’ll be a fun year!"

I can't wait for it to be over.

by halfwise Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:18 pm

"Who's Bilbo? Thought this was about Thorin."

Smile

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:19 pm

Twenty five minutes of extra footage in the EE of DOS, which is better than in AUJ I suppose- but it all rather comes down to if we get twenty five minutes more of stuff based on the book or twenty five minutes purely in the service of the PJ fan fiction.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:21 pm

It's also interesting to note that DOS-EE will have 25 minutes of new scenes, which is nearly twice as much as they put into AUJ-EE. That will put this film over the three hour mark, though not by much.

Anyway, at least this is a better title than "Into the Fire". But it confirms our suspicions that the third film will be mostly just one big battle (as if they needed confirming). It's nice to hear that we'll start getting more info on the third film soon, though.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:22 pm

Simul with Petty.

I just hope that the 25 minutes aren't action scenes. That alone could improve the film drastically (whether they're PJ inventions or not).

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:23 pm

Didn't he say that the AUJ EE would have about that much? And then they ended up with like 10 minutes?

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:25 pm

I don't recall that, but I didn't follow all the EE rumors especially closely.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:27 pm

I find it interesting that a lot of people on other forums seem disappointed by the change because "TABA was the best title of the three". Perhaps that's because it was the only one invented by Tolkien. :PBut I actually am kind of glad they're not using the book's subtitle for the third film. It doesn't really fit to use it for only the last third (which I guess means I agree with PJ here

), but the new title seems more appropriate given how few connections there are between the book's and films' storylines.

But man, has there have ever been a more poorly-planned movie series than this? At least among series that ostensibly had a master plan at the beginning.

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:31 pm

Eldorion wrote:But man, has there have ever been a more poorly-planned movie series than this? At least among series that ostensibly had a master plan at the beginning.

I bet even the Star Wars prequels were better planned than this. Oh, goodness! What have I said!

As for the people being upset, they'll drink the kool-aid eventually. Wink

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:33 pm

Eldorion wrote:I don't recall that, but I didn't follow all the EE rumors especially closely.

I swear this was the case. I did a google search and could only find a brief mention on Heirs of Durin, but whenever I try to go to their website my browser freezes for no reason. Shrugging

Edit: https://twitter.com/EricVespe/status/277553382527467521

by David H Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:36 pm

Eldorion wrote:But it confirms our suspicions that the third film will be mostly just one big battle (as if they needed confirming).

It also eases my fears that it might have grown in the editing to a battle of 7 or 9 or 13 armies. Shocked

Reining himself in and sticking to just five armies is a positive sign....I think.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:40 pm

bungobaggins wrote:I swear this was the case. I did a google search and could only find a brief mention on Heirs of Durin, but whenever I try to go to their website my browser freezes for no reason.

Edit: https://twitter.com/EricVespe/status/277553382527467521

Interesting. I wonder if, since we're closer to the EE release date now, they already have a sense of what they're gonna add, or if he's just throwing out a number that sounds good (again).

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:42 pm

David H wrote:It also eases my fears that it might have grown in the editing to a battle of 7 or 9 or 13 armies.
Reining himself in and sticking to just five armies is a positive sign....I think.

Well in the books the Five Armies were the Wargs, Orcs, Men, Dwarves, and Elves. Beorn doesn't count since he's just one guy. However, the wargs in the films are just beasts of burden for the orcs, so they might be replaced with a different army in the films. Not to mention that it's pretty much a given that the orc army will be under the command of the Necromancer (though he probably won't be present himself), which is a pretty massive deviation from the book.

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:48 pm

At least the title isn't ambiguous. It's telling the kids exactly what they'll get. And I'm sure the MTV crowd will eat it up.

by David H Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:50 pm

Oh there's still plenty to worry about. I'm just afraid of a 3 hr dinosaur stampede where there's no way to tell who's side is which. Still the most likely outcome I guess, but if he keeps it to 5 I've got a chance....

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:50 pm

bungobaggins wrote:And I'm sure the MTV crowd will eat it up.

Interestingly, even the MTV crowd has been underwhelmed by The Hobbit. All three LOTR films won "Movie of the Year" at the MTV Movie Awards, but neither Hobbit movie has so far. AUJ wasn't even nominated.

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:55 pm

I guess they're more into Hunger Games or Divergent.

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:57 pm

David H wrote:Oh there's still plenty to worry about. I'm just afraid of a 3 hr dinosaur stampede where there's no way to tell who's side is which. Still the most likely outcome I guess, but if he keeps it to 5 I've got a chance....

I can't even imagine what any of this is going to look like. I know that what I see when I read the book is totally different from what I expect from PJ. And what I expect from PJ ends up being 10 times more ridiculous than what I originally thought.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 5:04 pm

bungobaggins wrote:I guess they're more into Hunger Games or Divergent.

And Avengers. Middle-earth is not the hottest property in town anymore, and the people young enough to be MTV's target audience are too young to remember the first trilogy's release. That said, I would be surprised if THG or Divergent (especially Divergent) are remembered as favorably in a dozen years as LOTR is.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 5:05 pm

Also, we need to figure out an abbreviation to replace TABA. Should it be...

TBOTFA

BOTFA

BOFA

BO5A

Or something else?

by azriel Thu Apr 24, 2014 5:06 pm

I keep getting the fight scene between King Kong & the dinosaurs from said film stuck in my head ! pale

Totally crazy crashing, thru trees,vines etc no one really getting hurt, dinosaurs snapping at Kongs legs etc. entanglements in the vines, swinging precariously. I dont trust Peejers one inch ! He's done it once, he can do it again ! might not be dinosaurs but, I bet he finds something big enough to play with !

by azriel Thu Apr 24, 2014 5:07 pm

How about just.... Bog OFF !

It's official: TABA is now "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"

It's official: TABA is now "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"

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