With so many rumors flying about like Nazgul in a darkened sky over Mordor, regarding the making of The Hobbit, we had to take a stand and forewarn eager Ringers that the making of the Hobbit has nothing to do with demand and everything to do with greed. The demand is there and if the past sixty plus years are any indication, always will be. The rights to The Hobbit, however, continue to be mired in legal battles and therefore greed. One only has to settle, ha, ha, ha, the issue in or out of court and Jackson and the entire WETA team of cinematic magicians will make it so. Middle Earth will come to the silver screen once again, with only the Tolkien touch that Jackson and his team can conjure. Smaug The Dragon will rise, Gollum will slither out of the Misty Mountains to test the riddle mettle of Bilbo and the Arkenstone will glimmer and fascinate Thorin, leader of the dwarves. One can only hope. Meanwhile, the cinematic impossible has already transpired; Middle Earth, in all its splendor and terror, has been made a reality for Ringers in the form of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. With the release of The Return of the King in DVD and video this May, Ringers will have more than a dozen hours of the Shire, Lothlorien, Mordor, Gondor and more to lavish their attention and imaginations upon. Later this year, when the extended version is released, Ringers should also be treated to more literary details including the fall of Saurman and perhaps the scouring of the Shire. In addition, while Ringers await the outcome of lawyers and litigation, suits and counter suits, depositions and claims, perhaps a more realistic hope might be for Jackson and crew to release, spring of next year perhaps, a full DVD set of all three movies linked together by even MORE footage. Figure on 20 hours of Middle Earth drama to do fans right. With so many lavish scenes cut down or even out due to time constraints, Ringers would embrace and more importantly, buy, an even more extended version of the trilogy. After all, Jackson already paid homage to New Line Cinema’s time constraints (which reportedly evaporated after the first movie crushed all box office expectations and made gazillions worldwide) and nobody is disputing that Ringers just cannot get enough of the cast of LOTR and Middle Earth in general. The extended-extended version of LOTR might hold anxious Ringers at bay another year or so until legal matters can be resolved. Or not, as the case of greed may turn out. Reportedly, several of the original cast, Sirs Ian Holm and Ian McKellan among them, have agreed to reprise their roles from LOTR. Should this come to pass, the result would be such a treat for Ringers. Holm, an actor of significant talent, played but a minor role in LOTR. He would be pivotal in The Hobbit, which would showcase his considerable talents. Conversely, Ian McKellan would give Tolkien lovers a fond final look back on the Gray Pilgrim prior to his fated departure with the elves and Ring bearers to the Gray Havens and over the Sundering Seas. And nobody could consider The Hobbit without quirky and talented Andy Sirkis as Gollum. Until that fateful time, devotees of Middle Earth would do well to campaign for a deeper experience with the magic of Jackson’s mythical take on Middle Earth and the legend of The One Ring.