From what I understand, the Hobbit will be following the book very closely. This supposed to be the first of three movies because of the amount of content in the book. Which is really saddening. If the Hobbit gets 3 movies for a trilogy, then all of the other 3 books of LOTR should have received just as much, I feel. Of course, that may be a case of too much material for everyone, but imagine if the Hobbit was first debuted as a trilogy, then the next 3 books that followed the same pacing. A lot more story-telling, character depth, and enjoyment I think.