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Del Toro no longer directing The Hobbit

Started by Helvetica Scenario, May 31, 2010, 01:09:00 PM

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Helvetica Scenario

Quote"We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave the Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone's control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects", says Executive Producer Peter Jackson. "The bottom line is that Guillermo 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. Guillermo is one of the most remarkable creative spirits I've ever encountered and it has been a complete joy working with him. Guillermo's strong vision is engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA".
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/05/30/36920-guillermo-del-toro-departs-the-hobbit/

So, what next for The Hobbit movies? Del Toro has spent so much time writing, planning and designing the films with Jackson that there's a danger of the project turning into a huge mess if someone new was brought in. Could Jackson change his mind and step in to direct at this stage? Presumably he'd rather do that than hand it over to someone who's not in the club.


alan nagsworth

Oh dear, this is a big shame. I was really hoping he would be able to stick it out. Much as I love the LOTR trilogy, I feel like the Hobbit could have been spruced up with his sinister/beautiful juxtaposition. Here's hoping much of his prior influence still remains on the films.

boxofslice

Colour me disappointed as well.  Not sure why it has to be six years stuck out living in NZ, maybe a year or two but six? 

Cerys

I too hope that his influence on the film survives.  I've only recently seen my first Del Toro film, and I think I may be in love.

Edit - scratch that -
QuoteI have a sort of a fetish for insects, clockwork, monsters, dark places, and unborn things.

I'm definitely in love.

Jemble Fred

The Hobbit is the only one of the books I've ever read – does it really require a two-parter? Hairy little tosser fucks off into the woods, finds a magic ring, meets some spiders, blah, the end. There's hardly anything of note that there isn't more of in the main trilogy from what I can see, you could easily squeeze it into two hours.

mobias

Very disappointing. I reckon Jackson will just end up directing them himself though I guess he has other commitments too. Part of me thinks these films are actually quite doomed. I know there was a lot of pressure on Jackson to deliver with the original trilogy, and he managed to pull it off, but with these two prequels there's all the pressure of delivering on the books and then the pressure of delivering on the legacy of the earlier films on top. Its a lot to carry.

edit. Yeah why is it six years? The main bulk of the filming of the original trilogy only took one year and they then worked on post production over the next three as they were released. And the Hobbit isn't really an epic story like the Return of the King.

Maybe they were going to pad it out with highlights form the Silmarillion.....

Glebe

A crying shame. He spent two years pouring himself into it and now thanks to MGM's lousy financial problems the whole project is up in the air. Perhaps Jackson will change his mind and direct.... Sam Raimi was originally mooted, now that he's off Spider-Man 4 maybe he's back in the running. Anyway, right now it looks like its never going to get made.

mobias

Fucking hell Sam Raimi,  seriously? I never knew he as in contention at all. I know both him and Jackson cut their teeth on similar sorts of movies but he's never really proven himself to be some sort of visionary genius anywhere near on a par with Del Toro.

Paaaaul

Quote from: Jemble Fred on May 31, 2010, 05:39:54 PM
The Hobbit is the only one of the books I've ever read – does it really require a two-parter? Hairy little tosser fucks off into the woods, finds a magic ring, meets some spiders, blah, the end. There's hardly anything of note that there isn't more of in the main trilogy from what I can see, you could easily squeeze it into two hours.

I think the first film is going to be "The Hobbit", then the second will be a new story centred around Bilbo designed to connect The Hobbit and LOTR in a 'better' fashion than JRR managed.

Helvetica Scenario

No, they changed their minds about that (thank goodness) and decided to split The Hobbit over two films. While not being as bad an idea as creating an entirely new narrative for the second film, I don't know why they'd risk ruining the flow of the story by splitting it in the middle.

Mister Six

Quote from: mobias on May 31, 2010, 06:52:41 PM
Fucking hell Sam Raimi,  seriously? I never knew he as in contention at all. I know both him and Jackson cut their teeth on similar sorts of movies but he's never really proven himself to be some sort of visionary genius anywhere near on a par with Del Toro.

Maybe not, but he's got a fantastic directorial style - one that we only ever got glimpses of during his Spider-Man years. With Jackson as one of the lead producers, he could feel creatively bolstered enough to make something spectacular.

Oh well. Does this mean we're finally going to get The Mountains of Madness?

Paaaaul

Quote from: Mister Six on May 31, 2010, 08:01:48 PM

Oh well. Does this mean we're finally going to get The Mountains of Madness?

That excites me a lot more than The Hobbit to be honest.

Also, the third part of the Backbone/Labyrinth/???  trilogy would be nice.

Jack Shaftoe

Quote from: Helvetica Scenario on May 31, 2010, 07:54:14 PM
No, they changed their minds about that (thank goodness) and decided to split The Hobbit over two films. While not being as bad an idea as creating an entirely new narrative for the second film, I don't know why they'd risk ruining the flow of the story by splitting it in the middle.

I dunno, you'd get (I think) all the spiders and woods and Gollum in the first film, and the Battle of Five Armies/Smaug in the second, which gives both enough room to breathe. Otherwise the whole thing would feel a bit rushed and traveloguey, with a new monster/encounter every fifteen minutes, which is a bit too D&D on film for my liking.

Glebe

They did split the book into two scripts (
Spoiler alert
there has been some speculation suggesting that the first film ends before the arrival in Lake Town
[close]
), but apparently there's also a lot of background detail building up to LOTR. A casting sheet mentions Radagast The Brown.

Santa's Boyfriend

I just hope they make it before Christopher Lee dies.

And Sir Ian, obviously.

Vitalstatistix

Pan's Labyrinth is one of the most overrated films I've ever come across. I am absolutely not convinced by the 'genius' of Del Toro.

The Widow of Brid

God yes. I still love Cronos and the first Hellboy film, but I've found Del Toro more and more irritating as time has worn on. To the point where I'm actively disappointed to hear him linked to something now, as I know he's going to shit it all up with his shitty too big rubber glove wearing mime monsters.

mobias

Quote from: Vitalstatistix on June 02, 2010, 10:43:54 PM
Pan's Labyrinth is one of the most overrated films I've ever come across. I am absolutely not convinced by the 'genius' of Del Toro.

I know I referred to him as a 'visionary genius' earlier but I was being a flippant with the term maybe. He's got a lot of visual flare in a world of very bland movies and movie directors. Pan's Labyrinth is fantastic if you like that genre and its one of those rare films that really has cross generational appeal. Its a really unique film I think. 

Santa's Boyfriend


Jemble Fred

I think it verges on being a masterpiece up until the last 5 or 10 minutes, when it suddenly becomes absolutely abysmal. But then I remember the raging debates on here about that at the time...


Glebe

By the sound of it, this rumour has a very strong basis.

The Roofdog

Saruman and Radagast aren't in the book are they?

Glebe

No, but Saruman and Galadriel - and, presumably Radaghast - turn out to be part of the White Council that Gandalf nips off to attend.


Santa's Boyfriend

I really hope that happens.  But it still might not.  The only reason it isn't shooting already is because of MGM's financial situation.  I can see why they're asking Jackson to make it, it's the surest way of making the 4 billion they need to rescue the company.  (Lord of the Rings made over a billion each.)

Oh great, they'll be boring then. I rewatched Lord of the Rings when it was on tv a bit ago, and it's just so mawkish and twee and tedious, even more so than Tolkien's trundling prose. Is this our Star Wars? If so, we're shit.

Kolba

I thought our Star Wars was Pirates of the Caribbean.

Phil_A

Sylvester McCoy cast as Bilbo??

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/07/16/is-former-dr-who-sylvester-mccoy-our-new-hobbit/

Nice idea, but I don't buy it for a second. For one thing, it's bound to be quite a physically demanding part, and I'm not even sure McCoy can walk without a stick these days. And for another, with MGM's financial woes it's not even clear if these films are going ahead, so any casting decisions would be speculative at best.

Ian Holm is 79! Crikey.

Cerys

Besides which, Bilbo is relatively young in The Hobbit.