Kontraband Know It All

How many copies of The Hobbit have been sold? Did it make JRR Tolkien rich?
The Hobbit, by Tolkien, was first published in 1937, when the erudite professor was in his 45th year of life. He had actually finished the story in 1932 but had been occupied by his academic duties at Oxford University before The Hobbit finally made it to the printing press. The book was received well and was even nominated for various literary awards, with the initial print run of 1,500 selling out swiftly. Later sales of the book were slowed down because of paper shortages during the Second World War, but the fantastical tale retained its popularity in later decades.
The highest estimate for sales of The Hobbit reaches an incredible 100 million, with Tolkien's later work, The Lord of the Rings, selling over 150 million. As the author did not die until 1973, he was able to enjoy some of the fortunes made by his stories of Middle-earth. Although he sold the film rights for his books in 1968 for less than £10,000, he did state that due to the profits made by his books he wished he had retired earlier to enjoy his financial gains. The Tolkien estate still makes millions of pounds a year, even nearly 40 years after his death. 1973 was a sad year, Tolkien died, as did Noel Coward, Pablo Picasso and Bruce Lee; and saddest of all, Peter Andre was born.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Who are the main characters in the film? What actors are playing them?
The 2012 film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey features the main characters of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, Galadriel, Saruman the White, Gollum, Smaug, Bard the Bowman and a lot of dwarves. Ian McKellen is back as Gandalf, Cate Blanchett will be Galadriel again and Christopher Lee returns as Saruman. Andy Serkis is Gollum and playing the heroic Bard is the Welsh actor Luke Evans. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Smaug and for the pivotal role of Bilbo Baggins, the loveable Martin Freeman has been chosen. Several other actors will be reprising their roles from The Lord of The Rings trilogy.
A fine cast indeed, but no real surprises. However, looking further down the cast list we can find James Nesbitt (professional "charming rogue") playing one of the dwarves, Bofur. British "national treasure" Stephen Fry will appear as Master of Lake-town, the "Tartan terror" that is Billy Connolly will be the dwarf Dain II Ironfoot and the Great Goblin is played by Barry Humphries (that's right, Dame Edna Everage). Arguably one of the most surreal selections was for the part of the wizard Radagast the Brown, won by Sylvester McCoy, better known as the Seventh Doctor Who. It was rumoured Katie Price was in with a shot at playing the role of Smaug, because of her scaly hide, orange skin and experience with having large valuable chests that foolish men crave and often die for.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

What other Hobbit films are coming out and when? Will they be any good?
The director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson, has planned a trilogy of films, as he did with The Lord of the Rings. The next film will be The Desolation of Smaug which is slated for a release in 2013 and then the third film, There And Back Again, is expected to be released in 2014.
The Hobbit has already had its premiere on 28 November 2012 in New Zealand. As the film had an incredible budget of $270 million, Jackson will be looking for favourable reviews and lots of bums on seats. Early reviews have been moderately good; on the Rotten Tomatoes film review site the film currently has a rating of 76%. To put it into perspective, The Lord of The Rings trilogy currently has scores of 92%, 96% and 94% respectively. The total budget for The Hobbit trilogy is $540 million, which means Jackson doesn't have much room to tinker with the sequels. However, as the first film is mostly setting up the story for the sequels, it is likely they will be much better. If Jackson does get desperate he could throw in a cameo; Justin Bieber as a hairless dwarf perhaps or even Katy Perry as a lapdancing elf with low self esteem and a high pole.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Which well known actor sang a ridiculously camp song about Bilbo Baggins?
Due to the phenomenal success of Tolkien's work, many have tried to profit from hobbits, elves and orcs through works "inspired" by Middle-earth. This has included numerous films, a television series, a whole host of video games, stage adaptations and a multitude of toys and gifts. However, there is one piece of work that stands out head and shoulders above the rest, and to one group of fans who don't like being called "Trekkies", possibly even rivals Peter Jackson's films. This masterpiece is the delightful The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins by Leonard Nimoy.
Known around the world as Star Trek's Spock, Nimoy had decided to expand his media domination by recording musical albums. His first was 1967's snappily titled Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space; this was followed by Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy in 1968, which featured the aforementioned ballad. With lyrics like "There's a brave little hobbit whom we all admire, with his long wooden pipe, fuzzy woolly toes" the song proceeds to accurately summarise the book in one of the 1960s most camp moments. It really is precious and even Gollum would dance a jig to the truly outstanding video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04. Drugs were no doubt involved in the making of that video, and there were probably quite a few Klingons too.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
[Answers provided by 63336. Text any question to 63336 for £2.50 or ask one for free at http://63336.com ]