TheOneRing.net hosted a Hobbit movie panel at SDCC, and some interesting new details were revealed: first and foremost, they’re splitting it into two movies. The word is that they found a transition-point that seemed natural and would allow for them to add some extra details from the appendices from the book. They are looking at a holiday 2011 release (at least for the first film), and they’re 95% sure that Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, and Andy Serkis are returning to reprise their roles. In fact, Richard Taylor (from WETA) quoted McKellan as saying “Just tell them, I’m waiting for a phone call from Middle-earth.”

The first draft of the script is apparently still in the works, but with writers Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro hard at work, many fans are already very excited for the release. Just who will be playing Bilbo Baggins has not been released, and many details about the films are still being kept secret. WETA has already been working on details for nearly a year, so one can speculate that the scenes and visual details will be as meticulously attended to as in the LOTR films. For those who want to get back onboard the Middle-Earth bandwagon right away, it is rumored that del Torro, the film’s director, frequents the chat boards at http://www.theonering.net/ (where you can also find some behind-the-scenes sneak-peaks of what WETA is up to in preparation for the films). There is apparently also going to be a cruise to Middle Earth in 2010, and a scavenger hunt (with nifty prizes from WETA) at Comic-Con.

For the more details on what happened at the panel, check out G4’s liveblog here.

(Jenifer Rosenberg contributed to this report.)

From Entertainment Weekly:

The world has heard its last perfect “Dddiiiiii heard that“: Les Lye, who played Barth (among dozens of other characters) on You Can’t Do That On Television, died Tuesday in Ottawa. He was 84.

Yep, that’s a lot of Twilight fans. Now of course, the cruel thing to do to Warren Ellis would be to tell them that he’s writing the graphic novel…

Robert Sanchez tweeted: “is in line at hall h. so long. i can see tijuana from here.”

Hat tip: Kristopher Tapley

Good news for big fans like myself of Jeff Smith’s Bone. Comic Book Resources just posted a press release from Scholastic promising four new graphic novels, the first new story in that universe since 2002’s Rose. Don’t take my word for it:

First to be published will be “BONE: Tall Tales,” coming in Summer 2010, written by Jeff Smith and Tom Sniegoski, and illustrated by Jeff Smith, featuring new art and stories with favorite BONE characters. In addition, Scholastic will publish a highly-anticipated expansion of the BONE world—the Quest for the Spark Trilogy. Overseen by Smith, the trilogy will be written by Tom Sniegoski and illustrated by Jeff Smith. “BONE Quest for the Spark: Book One” (Fall 2010), “BONE Quest for the Spark: Book Two” (Spring 2011), and “BONE Quest for the Spark: Book Three” (Summer 2011) represent the first time Smith has continued the adventures set in the valley since the publication of Rose, the prequel to the BONE series.

It seems a little odd that Smith won’t be writing the characters that propelled him to indie stardom, but if you’re anything like me, next summer now can’t come soon enough. Go check out the press release for the full story, including some interesting sales figures and a little more background on Bone newcomer Sniegoski: Press Release via CBR

This is the line outside Hall H to see Twilight previews and cast members– the estimates are about 1200 overnight campers, from what I hear. And like all vampires, they will be up late. Let’s see if they all sparkle first thing in the morning… (Photo hat tip: Vaneta Rogers.)