15 Things That Almost Completely Changed The Hobbit Trilogy

5. The Weinsteins Almost Made It

Back in 1995 when Peter Jackson first expressed an interest in filming The Hobbit as part of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, is producer Harvey Weinstein discovered that Saul Zaentz had production rights, but distribution rights belonged to United Artists who believed The Hobbit would be the more adaptable property. Even though United Aertists and MGM (its parent company) were up for sale in 2005, Weinstein was unable to buy the rights to the movie, and he was forced to concede defeat in his attempt to control the production. He told Jackson to continue however, and he teamed up with New Line and MGM whose rights to film the Hobbit would have expired in 2010 had the film not gone ahead.