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In a recent Interview with MTV news, Peter Jackson – director of the phenomenally successful ‘Lord of the Rings’ franchise – has spoken about how the thorough and all-encompassing ‘bonus’ material written by J.R.R. Tolkien (author of the series) made his job much easier…

Jackson, widely respected for his work on the previous films, sat down at the Sundance Film Festival to discuss his latest and possibly most eagerly anticipated film yet. During the interview, he spoke of his desire to keep the film light-hearted and entertaining for the younger audiences; despite the possibly older reading base intended by Tolkien. On the topic of humour within the film; he promised that “some of the songs [from the novel] have made their way in there.”

He also mentioned his desire to maintain the film’s loyalty to the earlier components of the series, saying that he wanted ‘The Hobbit’ to feel like the fifth movie in a franchise, as opposed to a new project entirely,
“We wanted it to be a part of the five-film series,” he explained. “Fortunately, Tolkien wrote a lot of extra material in the appendices of ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ where he himself kind of tied the two stories together, 20 or 30 years after the publication of ‘The Hobbit.’ So we’ve been able to use some of that material.”

This insight is an extremely encouraging sign both for fans of the books and of the films.