"My dear Frodo, you asked me once if I had told you everything there was to know about my adventures," says an aged Bilbo Baggins in the opening seconds of the trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. "While I can honestly say I told you the truth, I may not have told you all of it."
The words, spoken by The Lord of the Rings actor Ian Holm in the newly released clip, don't just tease fans of the epic fantasy films with the prospect of a new series of adventures. They also reflect the labyrinthine story behind director Peter Jackson's arduous and continuing task of bringing The Hobbit to the big screen.
An Unexpected Journey will be released in December 2012 with Martin Freeman (The Office) portraying the young Bilbo. There and Back Again - a second film, also adapted from JRR Tolkien's 1937 bestseller - will arrive the following year.
The clip gives the world a first look at Freeman, whose diminutive hero is recruited by Gandalf (played by the returning Ian McKellan), to join a company of dwarves in a noble quest to reclaim their lost kingdom from the dragon Smaug. It's also packed with enough misty mountains, cascading waterfalls and chilling ruins to whet the appetites of fans.
The phenomenal success of Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, with its US$2.9 billion (Dh10.7bn) box-office gross and 17 Academy Awards, meant an adaptation of The Hobbit was always on the cards. But with the trailer arriving almost 10 years to the day after the first Rings movie debuted, what on Middle Earth has taken them so long?
The obstacles that have befallen the Hobbit films' production would have been daunting enough to send even the most daring adventurer fleeing for the safety of home. First, a legal dispute between Jackson and Rings studio New Line over profits from the first film meant preproduction couldn't commence until 2007. Then The Hobbit's original director, Mexico's Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), frustrated by the hold-ups, chose to leave the project.
"In light of continuing delays ... I am faced with the hardest decision of my life," he said in a statement. "After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien's Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures."
But when Jackson, who originally intended only to produce, decided to return to the director's chair, things didn't get any easier. The same financial problems at the legendary studio MGM (co-financing alongside New Line) that held up the 23rd Bond movie pushed The Hobbit films back yet another year.
In late 2010, mere months before filming was due to commence, Jackson was faced with potential strike action from actors over pay. After the director publicly suggested that the production could be moved to eastern Europe, the government of New Zealand (which had doubled for Middle Earth in the Rings movies) stepped in to resolve the dispute. The country's prime minister John Key - terrified that the films' relocation could cost the country's tourism industry up to $1.5bn - ushered in new legislation and even promised greater financial subsidies to the production.
When the project finally got back on track (some six years after the final Rings film had appeared), fans gave a thoroughly mixed reaction to the news that the films would be shot in 3D. But whether the decision was a money-making studio ploy or (as Jackson claimed) an artistic one, most were just pleased that The Hobbit was finally underway.
Recent months have seen casting titbits drip-fed to ravenous media outlets and blogs. The most notable of which - the news that Freeman had landed the lead role - was accompanied by Jackson's claim that there was "simply nobody else for the job".
But the ensemble cast has offered plenty of notable names too, not least Freeman's counterpart in the BBC series Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, who will voice Smaug. Then there's the former Doctor Who star Sylvester McCoy (as the wizard Radagast the Brown), Stephen Fry (the Master of Laketown) and taking a break from portraying Dame Edna Everage, Barry Humphries (the Great Goblin).
Rings devotees will probably be equally excited by the returning cast, however. Alongside Holm and Ian McKellen, the film will see the return of Andy Serkis (Gollum), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Orlando Bloom (Legolas).
As the slow drip of Hobbit news turns into a torrent over the next 12 months and a new chapter opens for millions of fans, spare a thought for Jackson and the others, who will probably be glad when it's all over.
artslife@thenational.ae
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The five pillars of Islam
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
SPECS
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