Before we all get too excited, I think there are technical reasons why optical reducers aren't commonplace.
They are used on astronomical telescopes, but that's a different situation from using them on video or stills cameras.
If I recall correctly from the dim distant days when I was into amateur astronomy, optical reducers can suffer from vignetting and also limit the range of distances at which the setup can be focussed. With an astronomical telescope that's no problem as you are almost always focusing near infinity - but with a camera for terrestrial use not being able to focus closer than (say) 100 feet would be a big limitation!
So I think it remains to be seen what the practical issues are - it may be that these things will only be workable with certain camera/lens combinations.
If it was a panacea for getting the FF look on small sensor cameras I'm sure the big manufacturers would have been on to it by now...
I haven't seen the Hobbit movie yet, but when I heard that Peter Jackson was planning to stretch it to two films (let alone three) I was dismayed - so I totally agree with you that it's too little material spread out too far.
Also The Hobbit as a book is a much lighter (some may say slighter) work than Lord of The Rings - it's a kid's book whereas LOTR does have a grander feel and a much more serious tone, which lends itself better to the epic stye of filmmaking.
3D I'm not keen on either, but it may be the way of the future in which case we're stuck with it.
Whether 48fps will catch on is an open question - from what has been said in various reviews it does seem as though in conjunction with HD digital filming it is possibly too revealing and too much like "reality TV" to work for the movies.
I know my clients appreciate the soft look I get with 25fps and shallow DOF - this may just be what we are all used to seeing over the last 90 years of watching films shot that way, but although 48fps may make action sequences look clearer I feel the trade-off of losing the slightly dreamlike quality of 24fps may not be worth it.
Perhaps the answer is for action movies to be shot in 48p and everything else in 24?
Chris Mann got a reaction from Orangenz in APS-C and Super 35mm just went full frame - Metabones Speed Booster
Chris Mann got a reaction from Axel in The Hobbit HFR Review - my verdict on 48 frames per second