• A major update on director Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming film version of The Hobbit, coming in 2010 and 2011: we’ve known for a while that there would be two films, but previously the plan was thought to be that the first film would cover the events of The Hobbit, while the second film would pull events from The Simirilian and other sources and “fill the gap” between the end of The Hobbit and the start of Rings. But Empire Magazine spoke to both Del Toro and Peter Jackson, who is producing, and it now sounds like it will be one continuous story. “We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur,” Del Toro said. “We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie,” added Jackson. “The essential brief was to do The Hobbit, and it allows us to make The Hobbit in a little more style, if you like, of the [LOTR] trilogy.” I suspect the story will still primarily be that of The Hobbit (just with more detail), but speculation is rampant as to which actors from the LOTR films could return for cameos.

• Filming has wrapped on Centurion (photo, right), the first in a wave of movies set in the ancient world, inspired by the success of 300. It tells the story of a small band of Roman warriors left behind enemy lines after their garrison is destroyed. Of all the 300 rip-offs announced so far, this one seems the most blatant. Still, it’s directed by the guy who did The Descent, which was fairly decent, and one of the producers gave us Slumdog Millionaire, which was brilliant.

• I thought Kings, the modern-day retelling of the King David story, was terrific, but it looks like no one else did. After moving it to the black hole of Saturday night, NBC is pulling the show from their schedule until this summer when they’ll burn off the unaired eps before (most likely) letting it die.

• David Slade, the director of 30 Days of Night, will direct Eclipse, the third Twilight book, due in 2010. (About a Boy/The Golden Compass director Chris Weitz is directing the second installment.) Slade is currently directing Neverwhere, a fantasy for Jim Henson Productions.

• Evan Rachel Wood has been cast in a “major” role as a “vampire queen” on HBO’s True Blood.

• Peter Jackson talks about his upcoming adaptation of The Lovely Bones (out December 10th): ” I think my partner, Fran Walsh, put it best when she said The Lovely Bones is about the triumph of a loving and generous heart over an empty one. It’s about a young girl who refuses to let the tragedy and injustice of her death define her life.”

• They’ve announced the winners of the First Annual Twitter Fiction Contest (a story in 140 characters or less). It was inevitable, wasn’t it? Speaking of which, follow TheTorchOnline.com on Twitter.

Similar Posts:

• Guillermo Del Toro Casts Self in THE HOBBIT, Describes Smaug
• Ian McKellen Says He’s Been Cast as Gandalf in THE HOBBIT
• From the Palantir! The Scoop on DR. PARNASSUS, Stephen King Clarifies, and Tobey and Cate in THE HOBBIT?
• Review: THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM Does Not Disappoint
• Everything Else That Can (and Probably WILL) Go Wrong with THE HOBBIT Movie

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