The Hobbit: A Journey to the Silver Screen

After more than a decade of setbacks and legal wrangling filming finally began, on March 21st 2011, on the two films that will bring J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy story The Hobbit to the screen. Directed and produced by Peter Jackson, who first pitched the adaptation in 1997, An Unexpected Journey and There and Back Again are scheduled to arrive on our screens in Winter 2012 and 2013.

The Hobbit (or There and Back Again) was written by author J.R.R.Tolkien while he was a Professor of Anglo Saxon at Pembroke College of Oxford University in the 1930s. He wrote the book initially for his children but also allowed his friend C.S. Lewis (author of the Narnia Chronicles) to read it. It eventually caught the eye of Susan Dagnall, an employee of the publisher George Allen and Unwin, who would go on to publish it in September 1937.

The story follows the hobbit Bilbo Baggins who is persuaded to leave his comfortable home to accompany a group of thirteen dwarves on their mission to recapture treasure from the dragon Smaug. Over the course of the story Bilbo develops from a quiet timid hobbit into a confident and resourceful hero. It is believed that Tolkien's experiences in the trenches of World War One greatly influenced his work, with Bilbo's transformation from common man to hero being a reflection of the British soldiers Tolkien served alongside. However the author himself never talked of the character having any allegorical significance.

After the success of The Hobbit Tolkien was asked to write a sequel and began work on the book that would become The Lord of the Rings. As the ideas for Rings began to formulate in Tolkien's mind he realised that he would have to make changes to The Hobbit in order that it would fit in with the new work. The character of Gollum was made more sinister and aggressive, and more possessive of the ring that he loses to Bilbo in the chapter "Riddles in the Dark" - the ring that would become central to The Lord of the Rings. The new edition was published in 1951.

Tolkien began working on more revisions to The Hobbit in 1960 but he abandoned them after he was criticised for stripping the story of its light hearted feel in order to fit in with the darker tone of Rings.

Peter Jackson was first introduced to the world of Tolkien when he was 17. In 1995, having established himself as a filmmaker with the likes of Heavenly Creatures (1994) and the recently completed The Frighteners (1996) the New Zealander partnered with Harvey Weinstein to negotiate with Saul Zaentz, owner of the rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Jackson envisaged a trilogy, with the first film being adapted from the Hobbit and the other two The Lord of the Rings. Development fell into difficulty however when it was discovered that Zaentz did not in fact own distribution rights to The Hobbit but that United Artists did. Jackson continued to pursue development for The Lord of the Rings, which was eventually produced by New Line Cinema.

In 2006 Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer - who had bought United Artists and were therefore the owners of the distribution rights of the Hobbit - approached Jackson and New Line with plans to once again bring the book to the screen. However its journey was then further hampered by a series of lawsuits that developed following the massive global success of The Lord of the Rings.

Firstly, Jackson brought a lawsuit against New Line in 2005, claiming that he had lost out on earnings from merchandising and other revenue streams from The Fellowship of the Ring. The boss of New Line, Robert Shaye described Jackson as greedy and said he would never allow Jackson to direct a film for New Line again. Development on The Hobbit was therefore halted.

In December 2007 it was announced that Jackson would be involved in the project as executive producer but not as director. MGM and New Line would both still be involved in financing the film and it seemed as though development was underway again.

However the production was hit by another lawsuit just weeks later when the the Tolkien Estate filed a suit against New Line alleging that they had not received an appropriate share of the $6 billion earned by The Lord of the Rings and that they would not allow The Hobbit to proceed until a settlement had been reached. This was not achieved until 2009 however development on The Hobbit had in fact continued during this time.

In April 2008 Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct The Hobbit films and pre-production began in earnest. Del Toro and Jackson began work on the scripts for two films, along with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. However a series of delays, due to MGM's financial problems, led to the production being pushed back. This led to scheduling conflicts for del Toro, who had other projects lined up that he didn't want to delay as a result of The Hobbit's issues. In May 2010 he therefore announced that he would be stepping down as director on the project.

In June 2010 reports emerged that Jackson was again in talks to direct the two films. The reports were confirmed in October of that year and principle photography was scheduled to begin in February 2011.

The casting of The Hobbit was the source of much speculation and anticipation. It was eventually announced that The Office star Martin Freeman would take the role of Bilbo, with Peter Jackson describing him as having been born to play the role. Ian McKellen will reprise his role as Gandalf and it has since been discovered that other faces from The Lord of the Rings may also make an appearance including Cate Blanchett, who played the Elven queen Galadriel, and Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas in the trilogy. Andy Serkis will also return as the creature Gollum. The actors chosen to play the thirteen dwarves include British names such as Richard Armitage, known for his television roles, who will portray Thorin Oakenshield and Aiden Turner from the series Being Human. They are also joined by Stephen Fry, who will play Master of Laketown.

After one further set back in the form of an industrial dispute in New Zealand that saw unions boycott the production over pay and conditions, principle photography finally began on The Hobbit on 21st March 2011. Jackson will be posting video diaries throughout the production keeping fans updated on progress and letting them in to some of the secrets behind the magic of Middle Earth.