The news that Peter Jackson has been given the green light to turn The Hobbit from two films into three has delighted many of those looking forward to the first instalment this December. Anyone who enjoyed The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and there were a few) is likely to be wanting to prolong the eventual date when Middle-earth disappears from cinema screens for good.
But the question is: what is going to happen in The Hobbit 3?
We (should) all know the story of Tolkien's first masterpiece. In a slightly abridged format it goes: beardy magician persuades hairy-footed midget to join band of small-but-not-quite-as-small men with funny names in quest against treasure-stealing and fire-breathing dragon; midget meets strange coughing creature in cave and steals ring that may or may not prove important 60 years later.
But what next? The Lord of the Rings was made up of three books totalling some 1,008 pages, perfect for adaptation into three separate films. The Hobbit, however, is just one book of some 310 pages, meaning there's likely to be a fair amount of new writing and extra characters needed to fill a third part of the puzzle.
Gandalf the Grey is regularly absent from The Hobbit - the famed wizard often only crops up when it's time for goblins to meet with his staff - and in the appendices, it is explained that he was off battling a Necromancer who was threatening to unleash an "army of darkness".
This Necromancer, it turns out, is none other than the chief antagonist of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron, who Gandalf takes on with the help of Cate Blanchett (aka Galadriel) and Christopher Lee (Saruman).
Jackson has hinted that such events could well feature in the new addition. "We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, the Dwarfs of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance," he said on his Facebook page.
The Battle of Dol Guldur might be all well and good, but with one eye on the ridiculous, here are a few of our suggestions as to what might well happen in the final instalment of what might become a too-drawn-out Hobbit trilogy.
The Hobbit: In Sickness and in Elf
Aragorn (son of Arathorn) and the wispy-voiced elf princess Arwen were already well on their way to getting hitched by the time of The Lord of the Rings (he just had to defeat evil), but there were undoubtedly many out there who wanted to know how they got together.
This heartwarming romcom tells that story, from their first meeting on the dance floor of the Rivendell Ritz, to the initial disapproval of Arwen's stern-faced father Elrond, and finally to her agreeing to renounce her Elven lineage and accept mortality. A couple of cutesy talking animals are thrown in for comic effect.
The Hobbit: There and Gone Again
If you'd just discovered a magical ring that makes you invisible, what would you do? Hide it away for 60 years while you write the odd adventure story or two and grow old? Neither would we.
This action thriller charts Bilbo's previously unpublished escapades with the One Ring between the two books, from the mischievous (eating Hamfast Gamgee's prize-winning turnips), to the cheeky (hiding in the Hobbiton Women's Hockey League changing rooms) to the downright dangerous (sneaking into Mordor and stealing Sauron's washing).
The Hobbit: Pinball Wizards
Although Saruman doesn't appear in The Hobbit, Tolkien's subsequent notes revealed that he had been battling Sauron as part of the do-gooding White Council with Gandalf and Galadriel.
But then, in The Lord of the Rings, he goes bad and starts building his own orc army. Why? Two words: that holiday.
In this Grumpy Old Men-style comedy, both Saruman and Gandalf go on a much-needed break to a resort on the Gulf of Lune after defeating the Dark Lord, only to see things quickly descend into a series of bickering arguments regarding the prices of room service menu selection and one rather closely contested game of pinball in an amusement arcade. They eventually return in silence, and Saruman begins making his dastardly plans.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday
Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm kick-off UAE)
Bayer Leverkusen v Schalke (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Cologne (5.30pm)
Mainz v Arminia Bielefeld (5.30pm)
Augsburg v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Bayern Munich (8.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Freiburg (10.30pm)
Sunday
VfB Stuttgart v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v Hertha Berlin (8pm)
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