10 Times Film-Makers Ruined Their Own Damn Movies
9. Peter Jackson Makes The Hobbit A Trilogy
Some have criticised Peter Jackson’s
Lord of the Rings trilogy as overlong in parts but considering that J.R.R.
Tolkien’s original work was a three-volume tome totalling over 1,000 pages in
length, a three-film franchise was justified. Although that cheesy and rather
homoerotic frolicking hobbit reunion scene in The Return of the King could’ve
(and maybe should’ve) been cut entirely.
But Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy? That’s a different story entirely. You see, Tolkien’s Hobbit is only around 300 pages long which – if we’re going by LOTR trilogy standards – equates to approximately one film’s worth of content being stretched out to a trilogy and one that clocks in at nigh on eight hours in length (or nearly nine hours if you’re watching the extended versions).
So, we got a ridiculously overlong set of three films that could’ve easily (and probably should’ve) been condensed into one film. It’s a shame really as when Guillermo del Toro was still attached to direct he’d envisioned the movie adaptation of the Hobbit initially as a single film and later a two-parter, but then Jackson took the helm and confirmed it would indeed be a trilogy and a senselessly meandering one at that.