Well, It seems that Middle Earth has lost it’s director. Guillermo Del Toro has announced that he is no longer directing the two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. He will continue to co-write the screenplays. Out of respect for the millions of fans, Del Toro broke the news online…
“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life”, says Guillermo. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in new Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director”.
This is not good for the franchise. Del Toro was going to nail these pictures. He has great vision for these kind of films. And with Jackson lending a hand on the side, it was going to be awesome. I have no idea who can direct these films; ok, maybe some. But, I have lost some hope…I already had Del Toro and Jackson delivering awesomeness! Oh, well…now what?
It seems Del Toro was just somewhat annoyed at the studio’s ongoing delays. For a while now, there have been various postponements. I totally get this. But then Jackson comes around and basically states that the bottom line is that Del Toro just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years.
Regardless of the drama…The Hobbit is planned as two motion pictures, scheduled for releases in December 2012 and December 2013.
What do you guys make of this? Is this good or bad for the franchise? Who should get the directing nod now?
Did someone say Dr. Strange? PLEASE TELL ME YOUR SERIOUS!
Fair enough, life must go on… Will we see a different middle earth? Looking forward to The Hobbit!
Why does the name Neill Blomkamp come to my mind?
Seriously, I would think Jackson should just take over, No one will protest.
And Del Toro…?
Hellboy III, Doctor Strange or whatever you will do…do it. I’m still looking forward to any project with your name on it.
Hmmm, it is of course bad news but I think the franchise can survive as long as Peter Jackson is still involved. I am sure Del Toro’s involvement will show throughout the movies even though he left prematurely.
I totally understand that six years is a long time, but I see the Hobbit eclipsing LOTR, so putting in six years to make history doesnt seem so bad. Ultimately this is the studios fault for the continued delays.
Well, I think it was a terrible decision to try to squeeze 2 movies out of The Hobbit. Its a lean story to begin with, and it simply does not call for more than 3 hours, nor does it lend itself to being cut in two.
When delays started mounting, they should have gone back to the script and put together one 3 hour film (with an optional 4 hour director’s cut).
Unfortunately, I think they were trying to exploit the property for maximum earnings, at the expense of the story.
Aren’t they making the second film a “bridge” for the LOTR films? So two films would be better.
But what does that mean: a ‘bridge’ to the LotR films? What’s the point?
Isn’t The Hobbit enough? The fans aren’t clamoring for a bridge film, and it won’t have the Tolkien pedigree. It just seems like a waste of resources, and here we see the results of that poor decision: Del Toro has quit because he couldn’t meet the demands of making two films at once.
Anyway, I don’t buy the bridge stuff. It doesn’t make sense. The point of filming two films at once is to take advantage of actors, sets, props, manpower, etc. If the characters are all different, if the storyline is different, if the setting is different, then any additional filming is just that: additional. Why would a director split his time between two completely different films at the same time? It doesn’t make sense.
Nope, I think they were planning to drag The Hobbit out into two films, and in order to do that, they would have had to stuff the film with new material from other middle-earth books. My guess is they probably would have told the story of Smaug and the Dwarves of Lonely Mountain or something.
You know what punk, when you put it like that it makes perfect sense and I agree with you. I havent kept apprised of the situation and what was happening and it’s obvious you have more knowledge in that area than I.
I am not happy about Del Toro leaving, but I can see there were other factors at play here besides the six year commitment.
Sad news but as long as he keeps directing movies I’ll be happy. Maybe this will open a slot in his buzy schedule for a 3rd hellboy movie sooner than expected! =)
Uwe Boll. After Dungeon Siege he can nail this project.
Either that or Peter Jackson can just direct himself.