The director quashes speculations that there will be more JRR Tolkien movies in the works, explaining that the author only sold the rights to 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit'.
- Dec 3, 2014
AceShowbiz - Fans will say goodbye to Middle Earth movies for good after "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies". Speculations that there would be more adaptations from JRR Tolkien's works started to surface on Monday, December 1 but director Peter Jackson who was behind of the epic adventures featuring Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves and others denied it, citing legal issues.
"No... it's a legal thing," Jackson said at a press conference. "The Tolkien estate owns the writings of Professor Tolkien - 'The Hobbit' and the 'Lord of the Rings' were sold by Professor Tolkien in the late 60s... the film rights. So they are the only two works of his that have ever been sold. Without the cooperation of the Tolkien estate, there can't be more films."
The third and last installment in "The Hobbit" franchise had its world premiere in London on Monday. During the event, which was attended by the stars such including Orlando Bloom, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Andy Serkis and Luke Evans among others, Ian McKellen who portrays Gandalf said he didn't believe their journey would end.
"I was told by Peter, in 2001 that that was the end, that it was all over. Here we are 13 years later. So I don't believe necessarily that this is the end of the journey," he told BBC. He also said of the movies, "The movies will go on being seen, people will come to them freshly for the first time... the thing goes on living."
