When original director Guillermo Del Toro was still attached to direct the two Lord Of The Rings prequels The Hobbit, it was said that both films would be 2D only. Then Del Toro's departure plus several other problems led to The Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson taking over directing duties for the films.
Now it appears that Jackson, who is a long time supporter of the RED Camera, will use the EPIC camera(the predecessor to the RED model) to film the two
Hobbit movies entirely in 3D.
The Hobbit will be one of the first to use the EPIC, Which they have ordered thirty of. Jackson has used the RED camera on projects such as his short film
Crossing the Line. Here is what Jackson had to say about the Cameras:
"I have always liked the look of Red footage. I'm not a scientist or mathematician, but the image Red produces has a much more filmic feel than most of the other digital formats. I find the picture quality appealing and attractive, and with the Epic, Jim and his team have gone even further. It is a fantastic tool, the Epic not only has cutting edge technology, incredible resolution and visual quality, but it is also a very practical tool for film makers. Many competing digital systems require the cameras to be tethered to large cumbersome VTR machines. The Epic gives us back the ability to be totally cable free, even when working in stereo."
Jim Jannard the owner and founder of RED also had this to say about Jackson's choice to use their camera:
"Everybody at RED is incredibly proud that Peter has chosen the Epic. The Hobbit is a major production, and could have chosen any camera system that they wanted. The fact that they went with us is extremely gratifying."
The Hobbit is expected to start filming back to back some time next year with a 2012 release expected for part one and 2013 release for part two.
The Hobbit movies will be directed by Peter Jackson.
The Hobbit will star Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, James Nesbitt, and Adam Brown