Hobbit'sDownUnda:ProductionFinallyBeginsOn "The Hobbit"

After months of delay's and changes in cast and crew, Peter Jackson's upcoming prequel to his Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, has finally started production.  

Last Thursday, the entire cast gathered in Bilbo Baggin's house and completed the first official read through.  They also went through the upcoming scenes that would be shot first.  Today, they are shooting those scenes down in New Zealand.  To prove that he indeed has started the film, Peter Jackson took to his facebook page and uploaded a picture of him on set(above).  

I recently became a semi-fan of the LOTR's triology, even though when I tried reading the first book when I was 13, I barely made it through the first page before giving up and retiring to a Harry Potter book or something.  I am excited for this movie to come out, but it does feel like it has been plagued with bad omens from the start.  First there was all the back and forth with who would direct the film, with Guillermo del Toro eventually dropping out, leaving the man behind the first three LOTR films, Peter Jackson, to direct it.  Then there was also drama with finding a scribe to write the damn thing and then casting issues and other such dilemmas that have plagued many a movie set before.  And lastly, Sir Ian Mckellen, who is stepping back into his wizard robe to play Gandalf, arrived on set in New Zealand a month early, due to lack of communication.  How does that even happen?

Overall, I'm excited to see Peter Jackson direct this movie. If he hadn't, I feel like there would have been many-a-geek roaming around New Zealand, wearing prosthetic elf ear's and cursing the high heavens in the Elfish language, demanding for answers.

THEY mean business.