Elijah Wood said a thing or two to MTV News about what’s going on with the Hobbit movie. Which it turned out means the Hobbit movies, plural. This is Wood describing his conversations with Peter Jackson:
I haven’t spoken to him directly about it [but] I’ve e-mailed him, and as far as I know the two films that they’re doing, one will be ‘The Hobbit’ and another will take place between the 60 years that happened between ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” the once and future Frodo enthused to MTV News, possibly confirming rumors that the second planned film would not be a Part II, but instead a narrative bridge.
A narrative bridge? Somebody’s going to write, like, the new adventures of old Bilbo? Or maybe it’ll be a searing, Altmanesque indictment of the spiritual emptiness of suburban life in the Shire. Like Short Cuts. Yeah, maybe it’ll be like that.
Also, Wil Wheaton is back in a Star Trek uniform. I’ll let him explain it. His blog post includes an incredibly plangent detail about life on the set of The Next Generation.
“We all felt a salary increase was appropriate, because The Next Generation was a hit. It was making gobs of money for Paramount,” (I like that word – gobs) “and we felt that we should share in that bounty.
“Of course, Paramount felt otherwise, so a long and annoying negotiation process began.
“During that process, the producers’ first counteroffer was that, in lieu of a raise, they would give my character a promotion, to lieutenant.”
…
“I imagined this phone call to the bank,” I mime a phone, and hold it to my ear. “Hi . . . Uh, I’m not going to be able to make my house payment this month, but don’t worry! I am a lieutenant now.” I pause, listening to the voice on the other end.
“Where? Oh, on the Starship Enterprise.”
I pause.
“Enterprise D, yeah, the new one. Feel free to drop by Ten Forward for lunch someday. We’ll put it on my officer’s tab!”