Cinematical posted some highlights from an extensive online chat transcript over on Weta Holics, and if you want to read the entire thing, head over there.

But otherwise, here are the top news items from the chat:

• Both films (The Hobbit and its Untitled Follow-Up) will be shot back-to-back in 2010, with the first arriving December, 2011 and the second in December, 2012. As far as rating goes, they’re shooting for “an intense PG-13.”
• They will not begin casting until the scripts are written, but said Ian McKellan will “absolutely” return as Gandalf and Ron Perlman will return; most likely not as the voice of Smog.
• Howard Shore will return to score the films.
• On what exactly the second film will be about, del Toro said: “The idea is to find a compelling way to join THE HOBBIT and FELLOWSHIP and enhance the 5 films both visually an in their Cosmology. There’s omissions and material enough in the available, licensed material to attempt this. The agreement is, however, that the second film must be relevant and emotionally strong enough to be brought to life but that we must try and contain the HOBBIT in a single film.”
• They’re currently working on a Blu-ray version of all three Lord of the Rings films, but it won’t be out this year.
• No plans are being made to shoot the two films in 3D … yet.

The best news to me is that the Blu-Ray versions of the originals are being worked on, even if it’s still a long ways off. Also having Howard Shore back to do the music is outstanding.

The downside? 2011? Ugh…that is so unbelievably far off. It really reminds me of when I first heard that a Lord of the Rings movie was being made. I believe when I found out, the waiting period for it was around three years.

Such a bummer, but hopefully the length of time to get it done and bring it to theaters will make it worthy of the originals.

The three actors who have been contacted are:

• Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)
• Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
• Andy Serkis (Gollum)

Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are expected to write the screenplays under the direction of Peter Jackson and del Toro. Concerning the scripts and keeping the original actors, del Toro said this:

We will all be involved in the script in some fashion but the exact definition is about a week away. I am all for keeping the actors who originated the parts, as much as availability and their willingness will allow.

As far as the actors go there seems little doubt they will return. Serkis already has the production listed on his calendar of his official website. Ian McKellen left little doubt of his intentions when he spoke with Empire Magazine last month:

Yes, it’s true. I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part, and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down; I loved playing Gandalf.

I suppose there’s a chance that Viggo Mortensen could be too busy now that he’s an Oscar nominated actor, but somehow I think he’ll find the time. It’s shaping up to be a pretty good production.

First off, seeing The Hobbit on the big screen like the recent Lord of the Rings films is a dream come true. But the sequel itself could be amazing, and a treat none of us would have ever expected.

TheOneRing.net talked to Del Toro and got all kinds of useful information, some of which I’ll quote below for you guys. This is what he had to say about the second film:

You know, I traveled to New Zealand just a little while ago, and one of the main reasons for going was to sit down and talk about the second film. ‘The Hobbit’, the book, is really one self-contained film, so for the second movie we sat down and worked it out. When we did this we got really excited because this second film is not a ‘tag on’, it’s not ‘filler’, it’s an integral part of telling the story of those 50 years of history lost in the narrative. There will be certain things that we will see from the first movie but from a different point of view, but it will feel like a volume, in the 5 volumes of the entire story. It will not feel like a bridge, I’ve been hearing it called ‘a bridge film’, it’s not, it’s an integral chapter of the story, and I think we’re all on the same page.

He’s committed to this project, even moving to New Zealand for the next four years:

Approximately [four years], my whole family, but the first stages of design and R&D will be done with me going back and fourth from LA and New Zealand because there are a lot of things I need to put to bed before I finally move to New Zealand. I’m going much sooner than my relatives would like!

We will officially be doing a lot of prep on ‘The Hobbit’ this summer, there is so much to do, its amazing. Just the reforestation of The Shire, re planting all those trees and plants will take months, and we’re going to be as exact as possible.

The best news I hear is that del Toro is trying very hard to keep the continuity between the films tight, so that going from The Hobbit all the way to Return of the King feels like the same world. He’ll even be using WETA for all the visual effects:

Yes, the essential elements for keeping continuity are on track, in the last few weeks I’ve been chatting with a ton of people via email, phone, and in person from the previous films. People like Andy Serkis, Sir Ian McKellen, Howard Shore, John Howe, Gino Acevedo, Richard Taylor next week I’m meeting Alan Lee. I’m doing this to ensure that whatever we do we keep continuity with the other films, yes it’s a world that is slightly more golden at the beginning, a very innocent environment.

What I’m trying to do is keep the elements in place but allow you to feel a progression from ‘The Hobbit’ until ‘The Return of the King’. I believe ‘The Hobbit’ is a very crucial volume in The Lord of the Rings, it is a narrative that starts out very much in an innocent and golden way. It is permeated from England going through World War One, so there is a loss of innocence and a darker tone as the book and the film progresses. We’ll be doing that in the first film, taking you from a time of more purity to a darker reality throughout the film, but I think that is in the spirit of the book. All these guys, Alan Lee, John Howe, these guys are integral for us to map out that progress in the two movies, and allow you to completely blend in to the universe that is already in place. But this will be a progression, it should not feel at the start of the film that this is the same time (as the beginning of ‘Fellowship’). 50 years in Shire time, is not the same as 50 years in human time, if you think about how our world has changed in only 7 or 8 years, you can think of it as decades of turmoil, those 50 years in Middle-earth.

Another thing people will notice, at the beginning of the film will be the palette, that will be slightly different, the world will be the same but it will be a more ‘golden’ world, a more wide-eyed world. But by no means will we depart from the canon, we will take the three previous films as canon. When I become part of a world that I love, such as this, I really come with a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, and we know we are recreating and creating a world that is part of the mythos of millions of people and we will approach it as passionately and respectfully as it needs to be taken.

And finally, the best part is that it appears two of the best characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be back for The Hobbit. It would be hard to watch it without them:

Well, I had the most charming meeting with Sir Ian, and all bureaucracy pending, he’s on board, as is Andy Serkis. We will continue giving you progress reports as the occur. It is our intention that we will not lose any of the key elements.

What do you guys think? Are you getting excited for these films?

Source: TheOneRing.net