It's not about good or bad, it's about jumping on the newest money-making bandwagon.
If 3D does take off in a big way in the home then making all the big Hollywood films in 3D to start with just makes sense, whether you like 3D or not.

Mark

Look at clash of the Titans, it flopped because 3D could not over come the other problems with the film.

Does anyone think Old Tom Bombadil will make an appearance in this film? He got dropped from LOTR.

Does anyone think Old Tom Bombadil will make an appearance in this film? He got dropped from LOTR.

Have you read the book of the Hobbit? I personally think it's better than any of the Lord of the Rings books.

Yep, I guess they have to cover their arses for the 3D TV market these days.

Mark

Hope not. As far as I remember he was some kind of annoying hopeless yokel, wasn't he?

Tom Bombadil's origins in the cosmology of Middle-earth were left vague by Tolkien. He calls himself the "Eldest" and the "Master". He claims to remember "the first raindrop and the first acorn", and "knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless — before the Dark Lord came from Outside." He does not neatly fit into the categories of beings Tolkien created. Speculative ideas about his true nature range from one of the Ainur, angelic beings (who came after the dark lord and shaped the earth), or God, who is called Eru Ilúvatar and "the One" in Tolkien's legendarium (the latter in The Lord of the Rings). This is reinforced when Frodo asks Goldberry just who Tom Bombadil is, and she responds by simply saying "He is" (much like the biblical statement about Yahweh, "I Am that I Am").

At the Council of Elrond, Tom Bombadil is referred to by Galdor as being unable to deal with a siege by Sauron "unless such power is in the earth itself", implying that the character may be a manifestation of Middle-earth's inherent properties. This connection explains Bombadil's seeming obliviousness to the transient concerns of mortals, as evidenced in Gandalf's concern that Tom would not understand the importance of the Ring, and hence lose it, if it were entrusted to him. The idea that Tom's songs are always "stronger", as he proclaims in his rhyme, as well as his title of Master, further suggest Bombadil is the warden or avatar of the nearly invincible aspects of the planet itself.

Are you really placing The Hobbit in the same league as the Clash of the Titans (remake)?!? (8+0
Have you read the book of the Hobbit? I personally think it's better than any of the Lord of the Rings books. Do you really think that Peter Jackson is gonna do a hatchet job on the material?
That 500 million is to cover the cost of both films.
You don't think the audiences will flock to a Hobbit 3D film?
I know there's no certainties in the land of Hollywood, but this is as close to a certainty as we are likely to get to a Hollywood film making money. Don't forget there's also licensing money to be made from the films.
I really don't see these films making a loss (and if they did they could just mark it up against Babylon 5 and carry on as normal).

Mark

The hobbit could raise close to a $1 billion in ticket sales in 2D but how much extra will they get from it being in 3D? That was my point.

Mark's point was simply that as the future may hold a sudden (if unexpected) surge in popularity of 3D in the home as well as in the cinema, then it'd be crazy for them not to shoot it in 3D, or to bodge in post later down the line.
Which, of course, costs extra not just for the tech hardware, but for the increase in camera dept. members/grips etc.
Thinking about it, must be a proper ball ache.

The Office actor Martin Freeman will play Bilbo Baggins in two-part Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit, director Peter Jackson has announced.

He said in a statement there had "only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us".

Freeman, 39, was "intelligent, funny, surprising and brave - exactly like Bilbo", Jackson added.