Guillermo del Toro to direct 'The Hobbit' and sequel

[Lantyssa]

I'm not concerned with continuity.  I just like the two actors.

[SuperPopTart]

I think the boyhood adventures of Aragorn and Faramir as badass rangers could be pretty awesome.  Like the Young Indiana Jones Adventures but with orcs.

Not much in the way of stories about adventures of Aragorn and Faramir..

But of the Numenoreans .. there is much

[Paelos]

I think the boyhood adventures of Aragorn and Faramir as badass rangers could be pretty awesome.  Like the Young Indiana Jones Adventures but with orcs.

Not much in the way of stories about adventures of Aragorn and Faramir..

But of the Numenoreans .. there is much

See, I don't even know what the hell those are. Number-crunching sea hags?

[Samwise]

The Numenoreans... picture an entire civilization of people who are as badass as Aragorn.  (One of Aragorn's big claims to fame is that he's one of the last of the line of Numenor.)

[SuperPopTart]

Righty-o.

They outlast mortal men, the life span was shortened to that of about 400 or so years - though if you follow the Book of Lost Tales each of the Numenorean kings lasted I think about 700 until about Ar-Pharazon who I think only lived about 250 years? I'd have to consult the book.

[Llava]

Additional info about Numenorians.

[SuperPopTart]

You are not loved.

[ahoythematey]

While the book moves at a brisk pace, there's actually a lot of content in the hobbit.  A wholly faithful adaptation that doesn't cut away much at all could really work out as two two-hour movies or one huge-ass four-hour movie.  I say go for it, give the actors a little more time to "chew the scenery" and take that time to set a more engaging tone for the story.  If filling two movies worth is still a problem from just the source material, why not expand into when gandalf leaves the party to investigate the necromancer?

I think a perfect cliffhanger ending for the first movie would be with the party setting out from Beorn's house to Mirkwood.  Second movie starts out with Gandalf journeying into Dol Guldur while the rest are busy traveling through Mirkwood.

Normally the comments that Del Toro made would make me extremely wary of the man making my favorite book into a movie, but his past work can't be denied.  Pan's Labyrinth was amazing, and whether or not he likes "sword and sorcery", the man has an incredible eye for it.

[Llava]

You are not loved.

It's fine if people hate the joke, just as long as they get it.

[Samwise]

Additional info about Numenorians.

Well played, sir.

[SuperPopTart]

While the book moves at a brisk pace, there's actually a lot of content in the hobbit.  A wholly faithful adaptation that doesn't cut away much at all could really work out as two two-hour movies or one huge-ass four-hour movie.  I say go for it, give the actors a little more time to "chew the scenery" and take that time to set a more engaging tone for the story.  If filling two movies worth is still a problem from just the source material, why not expand into when gandalf leaves the party to investigate the necromancer?

I think a perfect cliffhanger ending for the first movie would be with the party setting out from Beorn's house to Mirkwood.  Second movie starts out with Gandalf journeying into Dol Guldur while the rest are busy traveling through Mirkwood.

Normally the comments that Del Toro made would make me extremely wary of the man making my favorite book into a movie, but his past work can't be denied.  Pan's Labyrinth was amazing, and whether or not he likes "sword and sorcery", the man has an incredible eye for it.

You however are loved. *Glares at Llava*

[ahoythematey]

FINALLY, SOME LOVE!  AND FROM POPTART!

[Miasma]

I just saw that Ian McKellen has agreed to come back as Gandalf.

[Mazakiel]

And apparently the guy who was Gollum is also on board. 

[SuperPopTart]

Yep.


Now we wait to see who plays Bilbo.

And supposedly there is a question about Elrond's return.

[Righ]

It's a damned shame that Andrei Tarkovsky isn't still with us, because I think he would be the ideal person to direct the nine hour movie adaptation of The Silmarillion.

[Megrim]

Is that the Tarkovski that did Solaris? If so, then yes, but only if you want it shown to a somnambulant audience.

[SuperPopTart]

Is that the Tarkovski that did Solaris? If so, then yes, but only if you want it shown to a somnambulant audience.

Far too big a word.

Remember: We dumb things down.

[WayAbvPar]

Big words make me sleepy 

[Trippy]

Arise!

Director quits 'Hobbit' film over production delay

Sun May 30, 10:47 pm ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Hollywood director Guillermo del Toro said Monday that production delays have forced him to quit the planned film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," a two-part prequel to New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson's blockbuster trilogy "Lord of the Rings."

"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," del Toro told a "Lord of the Rings" fan website.

"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," he said, noting the film still hadn't been given the green light by MGM, the struggling Hollywood studio.

Matt Dravitzki, a spokesman for "Hobbit" producer and "Lord Of The Rings" director Jackson, said del Toro would not be speaking to reporters Monday.

The announcement by del Toro reflected Jackson and del Toro's "full sentiments at this time," he said.

Del Toro would continue to co-write the screenplays with Jackson and his wife, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens.

Jackson reached a deal in late 2007 to make two films of "The Hobbit." He is serving as joint executive producer with Walsh.

Last week, del Toro, who directed "Pan's Labyrinth," "Blade" and the two "Hellboy" movies, told journalists the "Hobbit" films, which have been plagued by delays, still hadn't been given the go ahead.

"There cannot be any start dates until the MGM situation gets resolved," del Toro said. "They do hold a considerable portion of the rights."

Reports emerged late last year that MGM was teetering on bankruptcy and del Toro said those issues had caught the "Hobbit" films in a "tangled negotiation."

"We have designed all the creatures. We've designed the sets and the wardrobe. We have done animatics and planned battles sequences ... We are very, very prepared for when it is finally triggered," he said.

Jackson told http://www.TheOneRing.net: "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.

"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."

He would discuss options for a new director with MGM this week, Jackson told the website.

"We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing preproduction work," he said.

Last month, Jackson dismissed rumors that the "Hobbit" movies have been delayed by production problems, insisting the project was still in its early stages.

He told Moviefone.com, "Well, it's not really been delayed, because we've never announced the date. I mean it's sort of interesting because the studio has never greenlit The Hobbit, so therefore The Hobbit has never been officially announced as a 'go' project, nor have we ever announced a date."

[Abagadro]

Kinda sucks, but I could see this being a boon if they are able to use Del Toro's design work (which is his best aspect IMO) and give the actual directing work to Blomkamp.

[Engels]

This is great news to me. Del Toro needs to have his talents spent on something more worthwhile than a The Hobbit movie.

[ahoythematey]

You take that back, Engels!

[Engels]

I'm perfectly serious. I loved The Hobbit, as a book. It was very engaging and engrossing when I was young. I put it on par with the best of C.S. Lewis and LeGuin's Earthsea. But it just doesn't merit a huge Hollywood production.

Don't get me wrong, I adored the Hollywood productions of the Narnia stories, for instance, but I also felt they were entirely unnecessary.

[ahoythematey]

Unnecessary, yeah, but I was hopeful Del Toro would at least give us something worth watching.  Who knows what vanilla-ass bore-maestro we'll get once the lawyering over the rights is done with, perhaps Brett Ratner?

[Lakov_Sanite]

The lotr movies were kinda fun to watch in the theatre as a whole experience but honestly i have never gone back and watched any of them, even though i own them on dvd. i really dont think tolien novels make for good cinema and i couldn't be less interested in the hobbit.

[Soln]

bargaining tactic, wait and see.  Just like Jackson's lawsuit.

[Merusk]

I doubt it.  The fallout from MGM going belly-up is going to take years and years to work-through.  I imagine he'll want to make a movie or three before it's resolved instead of sitting on his hands waiting.

[Evildrider]

I hope this means that Del Toro will get to make At the Mountains of Madness.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I hope this means that Del Toro will get to make At the Mountains of Madness.

[Musashi]

I agree that although the Tolkien trilogy was done pretty much as well as it possibly could have been done, that the format doesn't really lend itself to Tolkien's work.  So much of what I found appealing about the books when I was a kid was imagining all the minutiae that he put into those books in my own head.  And it just doesn't really translate very well into short form.  You get a crib notes version.  It's not the worst thing in the world, as people like us who enjoy that type of shit are relatively few.  Also, the majority of people would never have taken up the books and gotten to experience that story otherwise.

So as far as The Hobbit goes, I don't really care one way or the other.  As long as Uwe Boll doesn't make a movie based on the video game or something crazy, I'm good.

[Samwise]

IMO saying that LotR was done as well as it possibly could have is giving too much credit to PJ.  I'm actually looking forward to seeing a Tolkien adaptation from a different director that might be able to build on what he did with LotR without just doing more of the same.

[Khaldun]

I think the appealing thing about Del Toro as director was the possibility that he could infuse a film version of The Hobbit with more of the whimsy and fairy-tale tone that the book had, instead of Jackson's mock-Wagnerian epic mixed with a smattering of conventional scriptwriting dramatic arcs/character development. (Mind you, I liked the LOTR movies.) A version of The Hobbit that was more like the Goblin Market in Hellboy 2 or that had the clear aesthetic vision of 'fantasy' in Pan's Labyrinth seemed appealing, though as noted, a lot of that would be on the visual design/cinematography side, not necessarily the direction per se.

Cuaron would be a fantastic replacement if he's available, given his deft touch on Harry Potter.

[01101010]

I am sorta disappointed about this news, but I understand. I agree, del Toro would have provided a "fairy tale" feel to it which is what I was kinda looking forward to, but investing 6 years in a project that is still in limbo is a bit much.