THE HOLLYWOOD REPORT: 'Hobbit' Hopes

Considering that Skyfall kicked off to $88.4 million (plus $2.2 million more from its Thursday previews) and Dawn 2 opened to a staggering $141.1 million, it's a safe bet that Hobbit will give this weekend's box office a happy jolt.

Skyfall, the 23rd film in Eon Productions' 50 year old James Bond franchise, and Dawn 2, the Summit Entertainment franchise's must-see concluding episode, both benefited from being well established brands--and Hobbit's doing the same thing.

While it's not officially a prequel to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which grossed over $1 billion in domestic theatres, Hobbit is essentially a kissing cousin to the mega-blockbuster franchise--The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). All three Rings episodes were Best Picture Oscar nominees and King won Oscars for Best Picture, directing and adapted screenplay.

Hobbit is the first in its own trilogy of films adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel The Hobbit. Those three episodes--The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 2013 and The Hobbit: There and Back Again opens in 2014--tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien's Rings stories. There are numerous connections between Rings and Hobbit both behind and in front of the camera, starting with Rings director Peter Jackson. Its screenplay is by Fran Walsh & Phillipa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, of whom only del Toro didn't have a hand in writing the Rings trilogy.

Among the key department heads who worked with Jackson on Rings and returned for Hobbit are: director of photography Andrew Lesnie, production designer Dan Hennah, conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe, editor Jabez Olssen and makeup and hair designer Peter Swords King.

Moreover, Hobbit's four producers all had major roles in making the Rings trilogy. Besides Jackson, there's Fran Walsh, who was a producer and writer on Rings, Carolynne Cunningham, who was first assistant director on Rings, and Zane Weiner, who was unit production manager on Rings.

As for Hobbit's stars, while Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins) and Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield) aren't Rings veterans, Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey. Also reprising their Rings roles are Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Ian Holm (Old Bilbo), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Elija Wood (Frodo) and Andy Serkis (Gollum).

Freeman plays hobbit Bilbo Baggins, who's out to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. After unexpectedly encountering Gandalf (McKellen), Bilbo joins a group of 13 Dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin (Armitage), journeying into the Wild through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins, Orcs, deadly Wargs and a mysterious creature called the Necromancer.

Jackson, a technological pioneering filmmaker, shot Hobbit in 3D at 48 frames per second (rather than the traditional 24 frames per second) and it will be released in select theatres in High Frame Rate 3D. It also will be playing widely in 2D and 3D formats as well as in IMAX. Production took place at Jackson's studio facilities in Miramar, Wellington and on location around New Zealand.

Bottom line: Hobbit will have the mid-December box office sizzling this weekend!