Welcome to Rumor Has It, Player Affinity’s weekly roundup of highly buzzed-about movie rumors circulating throughout Tinseltown. On this week’s docket, we have rumors about Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit” films, Wreck-It Ralph and Thor: The Dark World.
Will there be a third "Hobbit" film?
Peter Jackson returns to Middle Earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey later this year and The Hobbit: There and Back Again hitting theaters next year. He’s already shot both films, but the director isn’t ready to give up on Middle-earth just yet.
Warner Bros. gave “Journey” a panel at Comic-Con, and Jackson was asked about splitting up the latter film. He confirmed that it was a major possibility, and unlike the “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” franchises, there seems to be more of an incentive for more “Hobbit” installments than profit.
In Jackson’s own words, via ComingSoon.net:
"It's very premature. I mean we have an incredible source material with the appendices because 'The Hobbit' is obviously a novel but we also have the rights to use this 125 pages of additional notes where Tolkien expanded the world of 'The Hobbit' published at the end of 'Return of the King' and we've used some of it so far and just in the last few weeks as we've been wrapping up the shooting and thinking about the shape of the story, Fran and I have been talking to the studio about other things we haven't been able to shoot and seeing if we persuade them to do a few more weeks of shooting, probably more than a few weeks actually, next year. And what form that would actually end up taking, well the discussions are pretty early. So there isn't really anything to report but there's other parts [sic] of the story that we'd like to tell that we haven't been able to tell yet.
We've used more source material than 'The Hobbit.' For instance in 'The Hobbit' when Gandalf mysteriously disappears for chapters, it was never really explained where he's gone. Much later Tolkien filled in those details. In these appendices he did talk about what happened. And it was all together a lot darker and more serious than what is written in 'The Hobbit'. And also to be honest I want to make a series of movies that run together so if any crazy lunatic wants to watch them all in a row there will be a consistency to it, a consistency of tone.”
Will Wreck-It Ralph feature cameos from Marvel characters or Tron?
Disney’s panel at Comic-Con included its upcoming features Frankenweenie, Oz: The Great and Powerful, and Wreck-It Ralph. Despite looking like a genuinely good film, the last of those three – which focuses on a videogame villain trying to be the good guy – didn’t exactly have too much going on with its panel presentation.
Still, “Ralph” director Rich Moore, in a recent interview with Collider, shed some light on the film and what might be in store for audiences when it hits theaters on Nov. 2. Considering the trailer for the film featured, among others, Mario villain Bowser and a Pac-man ghost, the topic of character cameos – specifically those from video games – was especially prevalent.
Moore was very tightlipped and didn’t give definitive answers when asked about cameos from the title character of Disney’s Tron or characters from the Marvel universe. Regarding the former, he said, “Well, you know, it’s just – I don’t want to give away everything […] There’s gotta be some surprise.” He was similarly hesitant when the latter came up, his words being, “Um, that one – well – things in the works, so… gotta see it.”
Will Thor fight Dark Elves in Thor: The Dark World?
We know little about Thor: The Dark World, sequel to last year’s Thor, other than Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston will reprise their roles as Thor and Loki, respectively. Although the latter will still be a main villain, Mads Mikkelsen once negotiated for the role of another primary baddie, the identity of which has yet to be revealed. However, an interview with someone working on “Dark World” may have revealed some key aspects of the film’s plot – including who Thor might fight.
Comic Book Movie dug up I Review Too…’s interview with James Grogan, an accomplished stuntman who’s currently working on the Thor sequel. Here’s what he had to say about the project:
“The other day for example, this is quite random but I was working on Thor 2. I had a load of stunt guys in and the director came in and he said ‘Look, we want you all to be elves,’ and I was like ‘What the hell is an elf anyway?’ and he said ‘I want you all to walk around like these supernatural animals,’ honestly it was the most ridiculous thing ever but you just have to not be self aware and get on with it.”
A popular theory about “Dark World” is that Malekith the Accursed, who rules the Dark Elves of Svartlalfheim, will serve as one of its primary villains. Along with Grogan’s reveal that elves will appear in the film, the theory ties in with Thor #344, in which this villain teams “with Loki in order to secure the Casket of Ancient Winters, a weapon which allows its owner to control the icy conditions of the Niflheim and gradually grow younger.”
Even if that theory proves to be incorrect when all is said and done, expect “Dark World” to at least involve elves in some capacity. The film will hit theaters on November 8, 2013.
