The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The most expected movie…

The first time I got the Hobbit book in my hands, in fact, it was an unexpected Journey. Back then, I devoured books one after another. I loved the adventures and almost became the characters, saying out loud (but in silence) the dialogues that they were saying in the book. It was my escape. It was back then, when I decided that I wanted to tell that wonderful stories, in my own personal way.

I remember where, and vividly, how the adventure started…

In a hole in the ground, where lived a hobbit.

Lots of stories unfolded in front of my eyes. Pirates, dinosaurs, and even one or two tragedies of kings and queens.

But this, my friends, was not a common story. I was in the brink of the greatest adventure I had ever the honor to live.

Yes. I lived every word that was on that book. I went through caves and forests. I crossed rivers and mountains. I was in peril and danger with Bilbo.

And this was just the beginning…

I didn’t knew that I was just scratching the tip of the iceberg. At that moment I wasn’t aware that I was just reading the prologue to the greatest adventure I had… wait… I already said that.

But it was true. Every book of the trilogy was greater than the other. It was not only a story that happened to a little Hobbit. It was the story of the fellowship. It was the story of wizards and humans and dwarves and elves and creatures and adventures and death. It had everything.

I didn’t realize until the end (that I’m not going to spoil to those unfortunate that haven’t read the book), that in fact I was so immerse on the book, that I was one of the fellowship. I was the 10th member of the fellowship.

And just then, when Sam exhales deeply and says: “Well… I’m back…” It hitted me deeply. The adventure was over. It was one of the foulest moments of my life. I had adventured with my friends a lifetime of 1400 pages. Centuries and millennia’s of dark and light ages.

And I felt empty.

They were all gone. It was the saddest farewell. My best friends were all gone (yea, it sounds sad in many ways). And for almost two weeks, I had a hole in the center of my chest.

Every fragment of the story was tattooed on my soul. Every heroic act. Every song of love. Every word was stained with the blood of memories and battles that were all a Middle Earth between my mind, and reality.

And then it happened. Not years later. No. Just a few weeks later when the grieve was starting to mourn in my days because the loss of my friends, that I decided I wanted to do a movie about this book to keep alive the memories and images and words and songs. I saw a great world that someday would be the scenario of another adventure. And all was inspired by the greatest wizard of all… J.R.R. Tolkien (some say he was a hobbit). I think he was a word wizard.

Although… I didn’t knew a thing about filmmaking back then.

So I decided to study to become a movie director. It was really the moment when I took the decision of what I wanted to be.

Just to know 2 weeks later that some guy named Peter Jackson was starting preproduction of LOTR in New Zealand. (True Story)

In the beginning, I hated him. HE ROBED MY STORY!!

But later on… the expectation started to grow.

And I can’t forget the day I was at the movie theatre. The lights went off. My heart skipped a beat. And with the first chord of the marvelous music of Howard Shore, I was there and back again… with my friends. My fellowship. And a lonely tear escaped through my eyes like the day that I closed the book, 4 years before.

I forgive him. He was just another guy like me, who lived the adventure.

Today, he doesn’t know me. But more than 12 hrs of behind the scenes material have been of the greatest school I could ever ask. He made one of the greatest movie projects of all times and gave inspiration to a lot of movie makers and story tellers.

And he will continue making history…

 The Hobbit: An unexpected journey Official Trailer