Sci-fi attempt 'Fountain' is obtuse

I wanted to like "The Fountain." I really wanted to like it.

After all, it is an attempt to at least try to get back to the brainier sort of science fiction.

Rather than big explosions, it's full of big ideas — not unlike one of my all-time favorite films, the 1968 adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey."

However, as a movie, "The Fountain" is chillingly cold, and a head-scratcher. It's so obtuse and befuddling that you might call it "2001-huh?!"

And it suggests that screenwriter/director Darren Aronofsky's tale of eternal love and eternal life is not something that was meant to be taken ... well, so literally.

That becomes glaringly obvious when the filmed version of the story is compared to the graphic novel of the same name (DC/Vertigo, $19.99 softcover, $39.99 hardcover).

Aronofsky created his comics-based novel, which features painted artwork by Kent Williams, after the initial funding for his planned $70 million movie fell through, partly due to differences with Brad Pitt, who was attached to star in the film.

Eventually, he did get $30 million to make a substantially lower-budget feature. And stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz (a k a Mrs. Darren Aronofsky) replaced the originally cast Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

But getting back to the graphic novel, it's definitely worth a read — if for no other reason than it shows what Aronofsky was trying to do back when he thought he had a bigger Hollywood budget.

The painted artwork is beautiful as well.

GETTING TO BE A HOBBIT. Brace yourself, J.R.R. Tolkien fans. According to the the trade papers and several Web sites (most notably, TheOneRing.net), New Line Cinema is planning to move forward on a movie adaptation of "The Hobbit," Tolkien's prequel to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy — without the involvement of filmmaker Peter Jackson, who directed the Oscar-winning "Rings" movie trilogy.

Several reports have directly quoted an e-mail from Jackson, who implied the move may have stemmed from his lawsuit against New Line over profits from the "Rings" movies.

"The Hobbit" would have been the perfect follow-up project for Jackson. But there was a hold-up regarding rights issues. Eventually MGM, which held the rights to a "Hobbit" movie, did resolve differences with New Line.

But in the meantime, Jackson remade "King Kong" and now has several other projects in various states of development, including an adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-selling novel "The Lovely Bones."

It would be a shame for a financial dispute to cost Tolkien fans a Jackson-directed version of "The Hobbit."

All is not necessarily lost, however. A couple of follow-up reports suggest that MGM execs may have a different opinion ... and that the studio may not want to do the movie without Jackson.

Stay tuned.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com