The Dish: Battlefield Middle Earth

Updated: October 9, 2008 - 7:11 PM

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Battlefield Middle Earth

Bilbo Baggins, doughboy? Director Guillermo Del Toro lets us in on his research methods as he prepares to shoot "The Hobbit": After time spent writing, he watches and reads "stuff that seems relevant, even in a tangential way. For example, World War I documentaries or books that I think inform 'The Hobbit,' because I believe it is a book born out of Tolkien's generation's experience ... and the disappointment of seeing all those values kind of collapse." Del Toro also dropped a hint about the two-part film, which he calls "a continuous journey": "I think [the demon dragon] Smaug dies in the first movie, so draw your own conclusions."

The final reel

Anne Hathaway will be the White Queen to Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." ... It's De Niro and Scorsese together again, in the mob thriller "I Heard You Paint Houses." De Niro will play Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, the hit man -- er, house painter -- of the title. ... Brandon Routh breaks out of Superman mold, joining Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Sheen in the suspense thriller "Unthinkable." ... Kevin Costner and director Ron Shelton are talking about a "Bull Durham" sequel. ... Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn are "seriously considering" getting back together -- for a follow-up to "The Break-Up." ... Ridley Scott's next project is a film version of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World." ... Warner Bros. is developing a sequel to last summer's "Get Smart." ... Forest Whitaker will direct and star as Louis Armstrong in "What a Wonderful World," for the French studio that brought us "La Vie en Rose."