Yesterday, we posted some of Eric Ditzian's interview with Sir Ian McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" and upcoming "Hobbit" movies. In one of the more compelling bits, the actor revealed that the scripts for the two films with feature plotlines culled from other J.R.R. Tolkien sources.

McKellen wouldn't elaborate any further than that, but a recent interview Guillermo del Toro gave to TotalFilm may shed some additional light on what the Gandalf actor was referring to. "We are respecting the structure established by Professor Tolkien because the order of the adventures in 'The Hobbit' is well known to generations and generations of kids," the director said. "You don’t want to be moving stuff like that." So what's new? Read more...

Ah, "The Hobbit." At long last, movie-goers will once again have a chance to be whisked away to the real-life Middle-earth that Peter Jackson created for his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Only this time that vision will be guided by director Guillermo del Toro. News has been relatively light on the project, which is understandable considering that it's still a few years off.

We fans will still take any update we can get, right? The latest comes from no less a personage than Sir Ian McKellen, aka Gandalf the Grey, speaking in an interview with Empire. The actor knows the score with "The Hobbit," and he had an update on where the powers-that-be are in the process of pulling the adaptation together. Read more...

For the record, there's nothing wrong with "The Road" star Viggo Mortensen not knowing much about the plans that Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro have in place for their two-part big screen telling of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." Aragorn, his "Lord of the Rings" character, doesn't actually factor into that story. That doesn't mean he can't be written in, but clearly no one's mentioned anything to Mortensen.

Speaking to the actor last week at the Toronto International Film Festival, MTV's Josh Horowitz got the actor talking about his potential involvement in... the post-"Hobbit" bridge film. Director del Toro exclusively told MTV over the summer that he won't be directing any bridge film. Still, even though there's no new information in the below video, I know plenty of women who would want to see it anyway. For Viggo. So... here you are!

And it's about damn time! With all of the comments from director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson, not to mention the avalanche of rumors, it's been easy to forget that the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" has been the victim of a legal dispute.

In February 2008, HarperCollins Publishers and the JRR Tolkien Estate jointly filed a lawsuit against New Line's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy relating to the deal under which the original rights-holders were to be paid for the films' box office intake. It's the sort of dispute which created a roadblock to the upcoming "Hobbit" movies being made, and it's a roadblock that's now been cleared. The parties have reached a settlement -- the particulars of which remain undisclosed -- which officially puts an end to the dispute (via ComingSoon.net). Read more...

I'd like to compare director Peter Jackson's adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel "The Lovely Bones" to the Robin Williams-starring 1998 flick "What Dreams May Come." Only I get the distinct whiff of awesome from Jackson's effort where "What Dreams" smacked more of pop psych mediocrity. Plus, "Bones" totally has the better title.

I still haven't read the book, but the more I see images like the exclusive one posted after the break the more I consider adding it to my Kindle queue. The moon is the sky is definitely a clock of some sort and the gazebo in the middle of the lake... I wonder what's up with that. For those who are in the dark, "Bones" follows 14 year old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) through her own, personal heaven as she watches her friends and loved ones deal with the grief of losing her. Hit the jump to peep our exclusive look at the movie, which hits theaters on December 11. Read more...

-- Ian McKellen told attendees at an all-night "Lord of the Rings" screening that an actor has been selected to play Bilbo in "The Hobbit." There are no further details than that, though McKellen also mentioned that he'll be getting the script "within the next week." This falls very deeply into the rumor territory for now, though I have little doubt that a script exists or that there's a Bilbo short list. Especially since "Hobbit" director Guillermo del Toro told us as much in an interview. (TheOneRing.net)

-- The word is the "Fight Club" and "Zodiac" director David Fincher is all set to direct the Aaron Sorkin-penned "The Social Network," also known as "the Facebook movie" in some circles. As you might expect, the story follows the rise of the beast that we call Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Sorkin and Fincher make for odd bedfellows; I'll definitely see this one. (End of Show, via /Film) Read more...

I really hate to step up on my digital soapbox and be "that guy" right now, but some wild rumors concerning the Peter Jackson-produced, Guillermo del Toro-directed adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" popped up yesterday and the record needs to be straightened out. Of the four key components to this latest round of hopeful fanperson musings, three are easily debunked.

Blogspot site MarketSaw, "a blog focused on 3D motion pictures," reported yesterday that (1) "The Hobbit" will be presented in stereoscopic 3-D, (2) it will unfold across two movies, with a third bridge to follow them, (3) Peter Jackson will direct said bridge and (4) the dragon character Smaug will be "darker than in the book." While number four is certainly feasible with del Toro at the helm, one through three directly contradict Peter Jackson's own words on the subject of "The Hobbit." Check out the video below for his own words and then hit the jump for the down and dirty debunkings.

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I haven’t seen "District 9" yet, but you really only need the trailer to get a heaping spoonful of the heebie jeebies. Better yet, check out Neill Blomkamp’s “Alive in Joburg,” the short film “District 9” is based on. It is, in a word, unsettling. As repulsive as the human population’s treatment of the stranded aliens is, you can almost sympathize; they are inhuman, and that otherness coupled with closeness to our homes makes the skin crawl. That much is evident in the "D9" clip below:

It’s a classic trope in sci-fi cinema, alien infiltration. Not invasion mind you, I mean aliens living among us, incognito or otherwise. Here are five classics that did it best. Before "District 9" came along, that is. Read more...

As some of you already know, Sharlto Copley capably carried director Neill Blomkamp's "District 9" like a seasoned vet. It may surprise you to learn however that the newcomer actor was originally going assume a producer's role and nothing more for the summer sci-fi thinkpiece. Copley was a sniper in Blomkamp's "Alive in Joburg" short, on which "District 9" is based, but he never actively sought a spot in the film's cast, let alone the top spot.

"I was never set to actually star in the film," Copley said to MTV's Josh Horowitz during an interview at San Diego Comic-Con. "Neill only actually told me and made me the offer to be the lead guy in it when he said, 'look, Peter [Jackson]'s totally behind this. And we might have some issues from the studio or investors or whatever -- you know, they're going to want a star -- but because Peter wants it, and is really getting behind you, you're going to get it."

In the video below, the likable "D9" leading man has plenty more to say on how he got the role and what the production scene was like. Check it out, then head over to MTV.com for Christopher Cambpell's full rundown of the interview.

In a sci-fi world where, as Peter Jackson says, "we've all forgotten how to be original," it's refreshing to see a film like "District 9" emerge which the producer aptly describes as "fiercely original." This is smart sci-fi, for viewers who want some food for thought to munch on with their popcorn. As Jackson reveals in the below interview with MTV's Josh Horowitz at San Diego Comic-Con, much of what makes "D9" so brilliant lies in director Neill Blomkamp's South Africa upbringing.

"[Neill] witnessed the end of the Apartheid era and he had a life experience of looking at the society in its... good and bad ways," Jackson said. "He wanted to translate that into a little science fiction spin."

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