The Hollywood Reporter has posted the cover story for their October 26th issue of the magazine as the recount why Warner Bros. and MGM are willing to gamble $1 billion on The Hobbit Trilogy. Below is the highlights and you can find the full article here and photo gallery here.

Highlights
- The cost of the first two movies are estimated around $315 million each to make (most big budget movies land in the $150 to $200 million range) but others are saying its inflated and New Zealand tax rebates will drop cost to $200 million each.
- Cost of the third film is unknown since a lot of it was already filmed as additional footage for first two
- To get the budget he wanted, Peter Jackson deferred his fee (but I assume he has back end points or something to make up the difference)
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Inside $1 Billion Dollar The Hobbit Trilogy Gamble. There are any Inside $1 Billion Dollar The Hobbit Trilogy Gamble in here.