Any update on this?

Also a question for anyone who knows. I’m not familiar with the books… did the books have so many fake deaths? That’s one thing (one of the few) that’s always bothered me about these movies. Fake deaths are fine when it’s dramatic and there’s a high chance of it being real or important to the story (Gandalf in Moria), but when Frodo is stabbed over and over, very bluntly by a giant troll, Gandalf flung up the entire height of a tower (actually he’s just flung up then appears on top)… it gets tiring and you start to not really care because you know they’re going to live. Or Aragorn falling off a cliff down the river. It’s just over the top.

Anyway, looking forward to this. I also would really enjoy a much shorter less over-the-top Hobbit so I’m looking forward to that part of it as well! Thanks!