Guillermo del Toro to direct the LOTR prequels

[Mupepe]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35428

Hey folks, Harry here... In the geek community for quite some time, the rumor has been that Guillermo Del Toro was going to be directing THE HOBBIT. The day that the announcement came that Peter Jackson was playing nice with New Line - and that Weta was going to be handling the fx - and everyone was a happy family again... I was talking to Guillermo about some personal issues (the Lapband operation, Guillermo had one quite a while back, and has been encouraging me to take that step. Which I am) - and during that conversation - he suddenly brought up THE HOBBIT and how he wanted to direct it and how he thought it was going to happen.

Well now - the trades are reporting on it. I saw the story up this morning on Hollywood Reporter's Story - the writing on this project has not been OFFICIALLY decided yet, due to the Writer's strike, but apparently Jackson and Guillermo will oversee the script's creation.

They're saying $150 million per film... and I just wonder... is Ron Perlman going to be the voice of Smaug? And will Gollum suddenly become a man in a costume via Doug Jones? (of course not, Andy Serkis will be back)
But you KNOW that Doug Jones is gonna be something awesome in this.

When Guillermo and I talked about it, he spoke very heartfelt about how he had to adhere to what Peter had already established - but how he couldn't wait to expand that universe with the environments, creatures and most especially Smaug. I'm giddy.

I'm personally excited.  I was worried about who they would choose and they picked one of my new favorites.  omg omg omg

I just hope he goes to do some original work after this :'(

[Madrun Badrun]

prequels?  there is going to be more than one?

[Eric P]

LAME

AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS PLEASE, YOU FUCK

[Robo]

Why does that tit feel it necessary to include everyone in his struggle against fatness in a news post?

[TVC15]

http://www.dutch-angle.com/

Shitheap.  Guillermo is wasting his talent.  As much as I want to love the guy, I think he must like doing all this licensed garbage or something.

[Joe Molotov]

Why does that tit feel it necessary to include everyone in his struggle against fatness in a news post?

Well, it's Harry Knowles so...you know.

Also, Del Toro directing The Hobbit = But Mountains of Madness next, plzkthx.

[Eric P]

i don't even like blade 2 or hellboy

but i loved Devil's Backbone

haven't seen pan's labrynth

[Bloodwake]

See, TVC? Some people want to to "expand their horizons," but I think Guillermo is still in the mode where he wants to do films with creatures and fantasy. He basically mentions that that is his thing he likes doing in every interview.

But, the bright side to all this is that since Del Toro likes doing licenced shit, at least we won't get stuck with a shitty Hobbit prequel. And this time around, we might actually have a cut that isn't ridiculously long so we won't have extended versions and ultra extended versions and shit.

Honestly, the fact that Del Toro's name may be attached to this film actually makes me interested in watching it. Before now I really didn't give two shits about it.

[Phoenix Dark]

I've never heard The Hobbit referred to as "licensed shit." SMH White Man

Good to see him doing something good. Hellboy/Blade suck

[TVC15]

i don't even like blade 2 or hellboy

I like both of them, but in the cheesy action movie sort of way.  They are not great or anything.  I like me some Hellboy comics, too.  I am excited for the new movie.

but i loved Devil's Backbone

It's fucking awesome.

haven't seen pan's labrynth

You should really check it out.  If you like The Devil's Backbone, you will dig this.  Also gets the TVC15 Stamp of Approval for taking place in a setting that doesn't crop up in all that many films.  Also a very beautiful movie.  I can understand this beating Children of Men for cinematography.  I might not agree with that decision, but I can see how it could be made.

But now?  YAY MILKING OF THE RINGS!

I've never heard The Hobbit referred to as "licensed shit." SMH White Man

Come on, PD, they split it into TWO FUCKING MOVIES.  The only person that could make a decision like that is one that doesn't give a fuck about the books.  Like it or not, in 2008, LotR is licensed shit.

[Eric P]

it's in my queue, i'll see it eventually

[Phoenix Dark]

I will admit the two movie deal is a red flag for me. but at the same time isn't the second film supposed to be about appendix shit? Eh...I am definitely interested in this, Jackson will always have a special place in my heart...but The Hobbit doesn't strike me as a potentially great film. 12 dwarves running around with a fat hobbit and a wizard=

[Bloodwake]

i don't even like blade 2 or hellboy

I like both of them, but in the cheesy action movie sort of way.  They are not great or anything.  I like me some Hellboy comics, too.  I am excited for the new movie.

but i loved Devil's Backbone

It's fucking awesome.

haven't seen pan's labrynth

You should really check it out.  If you like The Devil's Backbone, you will dig this.  Also gets the TVC15 Stamp of Approval for taking place in a setting that doesn't crop up in all that many films.  Also a very beautiful movie.  I can understand this beating Children of Men for cinematography.  I might not agree with that decision, but I can see how it could be made.

But now?  YAY MILKING OF THE RINGS!

I've never heard The Hobbit referred to as "licensed shit." SMH White Man

Come on, PD, they split it into TWO FUCKING MOVIES.  The only person that could make a decision like that is one that doesn't give a fuck about the books.  Like it or not, in 2008, LotR is licensed shit.

Yeah, the two movies thing is pushing it. But, I can understand the studio doing it in anticipation for Jackson directing, so that the movie doesn't last five hours when it should last two and a half max.

Everything I've heard about the Hobbit sounds like it is very tentative though, so I wouldn't be surprised if they changed their mind two or three more times.

[Tauntaun]

I will admit the two movie deal is a red flag for me. but at the same time isn't the second film supposed to be about appendix shit? Eh...I am definitely interested in this, Jackson will always have a special place in my heart...but The Hobbit doesn't strike me as a potentially great film. 12 dwarves running around with a fat hobbit and a wizard=

   Son dwarves are awesome!

[Phoenix Dark]

I will admit the two movie deal is a red flag for me. but at the same time isn't the second film supposed to be about appendix shit? Eh...I am definitely interested in this, Jackson will always have a special place in my heart...but The Hobbit doesn't strike me as a potentially great film. 12 dwarves running around with a fat hobbit and a wizard=

   Son dwarves are awesome!

They are...but not fucking 12. How is that going to interest audiences, and how will the character development be handled. I'd imagine one will be for comedic purposes (Gloin perhaps), one will be the badass, one will be the bi-curious furry, etc

[TVC15]

I will admit the two movie deal is a red flag for me. but at the same time isn't the second film supposed to be about appendix shit? Eh...I am definitely interested in this, Jackson will always have a special place in my heart...but The Hobbit doesn't strike me as a potentially great film. 12 dwarves running around with a fat hobbit and a wizard=

Nobody knows what they are about.  They haven't even been written yet!  But they SURE THINK THEY CAN DO TWO MOVIES without even starting writing!  Does this sound like licensed shit yet?  You know what else over-extended itself while lacking material, for the sake of a few dollars?

Meet the new face of LotR:

[Powerslave]

lol lotr, fuck it

[Tauntaun]

Meet the new face of LotR:

[img]dbz pic[img]

Wait he's doing the live action DBZ movie?

[TVC15]

Meet the new face of LotR:

[img]dbz pic[img]

Wait he's doing the live action DBZ movie?

Well, basically.

[Phoenix Dark]

Pan's greatly impressed me on first viewing, but it took a second viewing for me to really go ape shit over. I'd love to see Del Toro do something similar in terms of shunning Hollywood/producers and just doing his own thing. The Hobbit is the exact opposite of my wish, BUT at least we know he's going to bring the Tolkien world to life in an awesome way.

[TVC15]

Watch The Devil's Backbone, and you will be pissed that he's working with something so out-of-tune with what he is great at.

Note that somewhat hypocritically, my manpanties are wet over At the Mountains of Madness (which looking at the dates, may be a casualty of this disaster), since we have yet to get a truly good and accurate Lovecraft movie, and Guillermo could easily deliver us one.  Plus he is a ginormous Lovecraft fan, obviously.

[Van Cruncheon]

there's barely enough filmable material in the hobbit for one movie, much less two. jesus, i shudder to think at the amount of midget exposition that's gonna show up as a result of this decision.

[Phoenix Dark]

I need to find The Devil's Backbone. If anyone has a copy I'll buy it from you

I had never heard Del Toro's name attatched to At the Mountains of Madness. Reading a bit of the plot summary on Wiki...hm I should get this.

[Van Cruncheon]

this had better not impact at the mountains of madness. i need need NEED my cthulhu by way of del toro, STAT.

[TVC15]

this had better not impact at the mountains of madness. i need need NEED my cthulhu by way of del toro, STAT.

The script is apparently pretty good, too.  Last I heard on it was that Guillermo was having trouble convincing a typically US shitty studio to fund the picture.  It's a tough sell since there are very few characters and no chicks to cast with big titted actresses that sell tickets (see: Transformers). 

[Van Cruncheon]

at the very least, if he DOES do the hobbit, his penchant for having kids murdered onscreen should lead to a few unanticipated dwarf demises!

[TVC15]

At least we'll definitely get 3993 before he starts on this shit.  What with it being foreign, the godawful US writer's strike will have no effect on it.  As a matter of fact, of all his announced projects, that's probably the only one he could actually do next, considering the conditions.

[Bloodwake]

God, I need to see the Devil's Backbone

Hopefully the library at college is reading my mind.

[TVC15]

I want DB in HD so bad.  Man I wanna watch Pan's again now.

[Eric P]

if you all are in desperate need for a Lovecraft film, check out Call of Cthulhu

[youtube=425,350]XHuY2wXTd0o[/youtube]

shot to look as if it were from the 20s

it's bad to the ass

[TVC15]

I actually just got that off a friend.  Is it actually good?

[Eric P]

or you can just watch this

[youtube=425,350]tzXtrRybOnU[/youtube]

[TVC15]

Did you see the Dreams in the Witch House Masters of Horror episode?  Of everything I've seen, that is probably the closest to being a good, straight HPL adaptation.

or you can just watch this

[youtube=425,350]tzXtrRybOnU[/youtube]

lol clearly Seattle.

[Van Cruncheon]

ooo, i need to watch that

[Eric P]

I actually just got that off a friend.  Is it actually good?

quite

Did you see the Dreams in the Witch House Masters of Horror episode?  Of everything I've seen, that is probably the closest to being a good, straight HPL adaptation.

aside from the mandated titty, yes i agree

though i'd like a rats in the walls episode

[Joe Molotov]

Did you see the Dreams in the Witch House Masters of Horror episode?  Of everything I've seen, that is probably the closest to being a good, straight HPL adaptation.

All things considered, I thought Dagon was a pretty good Shadow Over Innsmouth adaptation.

[TVC15]

I actually just got that off a friend.  Is it actually good?

quite

Did you see the Dreams in the Witch House Masters of Horror episode?  Of everything I've seen, that is probably the closest to being a good, straight HPL adaptation.

aside from the mandated titty, yes i agree

though i'd like a rats in the walls episode

"Madated titty" hahaha.  Forgive me for not being as up-to-snuff on my HPL as I was a few years back, but wasn't that Dreams in the Witch House with elements of some other story?

Did you see the Dreams in the Witch House Masters of Horror episode?  Of everything I've seen, that is probably the closest to being a good, straight HPL adaptation.

All things considered, I thought Dagon was a pretty good Shadow Over Innsmouth adaptation.

Yeah, that's not bad, really, but you have the low production values caveat that we wouldn't have with Guillermo's movie. 

[Eric P]

Did you see the Dreams in the Witch House Masters of Horror episode?  Of everything I've seen, that is probably the closest to being a good, straight HPL adaptation.

All things considered, I thought Dagon was a pretty good Shadow Over Innsmouth adaptation.

i agree with that

excellent adaptation

"Madated titty" hahaha.  Forgive me for not being as up-to-snuff on my HPL as I was a few years back, but wasn't that Dreams in the Witch House with elements of some other story?

it's just a loose interpretation, i think

wiki says so

Film, TV or theatrical adapatations

"The Dreams in the Witch House" was made into a short segment for Showtime cable television's Masters of Horror series, directed by Stuart Gordon, under the title H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House. It only loosely follows the original plot, with Keziah Mason becoming what the film's promotional materials refer to as "a luscious she-demon"[11] and Frank Elwood changing genders to become Frances Elwood.

A much looser adaptation inspired by the tale was the 1968 The Curse of the Crimson Altar (aka. The Crimson Cult, Witch House, The Crimson Altar). It starred Barbara Steele, Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, and Michael Gough.

The story and characters were adapted by the author Graham Masterton, in his novel Prey.

that i didn't know.  hmmmm

[Howard Alan Treesong]

fuck you Del Toro

this means The Hobbit will be awesome

but it also means At The Mountains of Madness will be NON EXISTANT

cry cry

P.S. http://www.wurb.com/if/game/17.html

[Joe Molotov]

Yeah, that's not bad, really, but you have the low production values caveat that we wouldn't have with Guillermo's movie. 

I like how on the commentary Stuart Gordon comments on the 20+ companies that get listed during the credits, and he said that was the filmmakers' equivalent of going around rattling a tin cup. It's too bad Hollywood won't give up the dough to make a real Lovecraft Mythos movie. It wouldn't have to cost $250 Million or anything, just an actual Hollywood budget would be nice.

[Eric P]

Code: [Select]

. Features a female protagonist, two small mazes (one optional), references to incest, and a certain amount of strong language, gore, and [b]really bad things happening to people.[/b]
honestly i thought the Sherlock Holmes game did a good attempt at a mythos game

[TVC15]

fuck you Del Toro

this means The Hobbit will be awesome

You mean LOTRball GT. 

need I remind people that they have decided to split the Hobbit into two movies before they even have scripts?  This is merely LOTR:  The Quest for More Money.  And unlike Hellboy, The Hobbit leaves little, if any room for del Toroisms.

[Joe Molotov]

Code: [Select]

. Features a female protagonist, two small mazes (one optional), references to incest, and a certain amount of strong language, gore, and [b]really bad things happening to people.[/b]
honestly i thought the Sherlock Holmes game did a good attempt at a mythos game

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth would have been great if the combat and stealth wasn't so fucked up. The first hour or two when there wasn't any combat at all was fantastic.

[Phoenix Dark]

fuck you Del Toro

this means The Hobbit will be awesome

You mean LOTRball GT. 

need I remind people that they have decided to split the Hobbit into two movies before they even have scripts?  This is merely LOTR:  The Quest for More Money.  And unlike Hellboy, The Hobbit leaves little, if any room for del Toroisms.

But ManaByte says one will be The Hobbit, the other will be appendix stuffz 

[Gay Boy]

Jackson himself stated in a interview with AICN that its one hobbit film, one film post-hobbit but before LOTR.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Code: [Select]

. Features a female protagonist, two small mazes (one optional), references to incest, and a certain amount of strong language, gore, and [b]really bad things happening to people.[/b]
honestly i thought the Sherlock Holmes game did a good attempt at a mythos game

is that on Steam? Erik Wolpaw says it had good writing, and that got me intrigued. that, plus A Study in Emerald is prolly the best thing Gaiman's done in ten years, since it's not just "let's rewrite Sandman again"

[Phoenix Dark]

Jackson himself stated in a interview with AICN that its one hobbit film, one film post-hobbit but before LOTR.

Yenor with the exclusive info

[Gay Boy]

Jackson himself stated in a interview with AICN that its one hobbit film, one film post-hobbit but before LOTR.

Yenor with the exclusive info

how is it exclusive?  lol

[TVC15]

Code: [Select]

. Features a female protagonist, two small mazes (one optional), references to incest, and a certain amount of strong language, gore, and [b]really bad things happening to people.[/b]
honestly i thought the Sherlock Holmes game did a good attempt at a mythos game

is that on Steam? Erik Wolpaw says it had good writing, and that got me intrigued. that, plus A Study in Emerald is prolly the best thing Gaiman's done in ten years, since it's not just "let's rewrite Sandman again"

Yes it is, but it is 30 dollars.  I think you can find it cheaper in stores.  What I have played is pretty good, though.

There is a demo on Steam.

Jackson himself stated in a interview with AICN that its one hobbit film, one film post-hobbit but before LOTR.

That was Jackson's plan, but it's not his project anymore.  Once again:  NOTHING HAS BEEN WRITTEN YET.

[Gay Boy]

Jackson himself stated in a interview with AICN that its one hobbit film, one film post-hobbit but before LOTR.

That was Jackson's plan, but it's not his project anymore.

yes it is. He is working on the script/story outline as well as producing from everything I read. The strik is going on but no script.

They are scouting locations in NZ right now going by Jackson's story outline he wrote last year. They want to start filming by 2009.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I just wanna reflog Study in Emerald. it rox. ELDER GODS x PAX BRITANNIA = AWESOME

[TVC15]

If Jackson's still involved, why are people still excited? 

[Phoenix Dark]

I want to kiss you right now Cheebs, thanks for this info. I'm in the computer lab (Owens)

[TVC15]

Is the post-Hobbit movie original material?  Because then it is guaranteed shit.  I don't want to watch Peter Jackson's shitty LOTR fanfic.  Unless it has Buffy cast members playing gay.

[Phoenix Dark]

From what I've heard it's based on the appendix stuff, IE Aragorn and Gandalf's adventures before FOTR. Like finding Gullum and shit

[TVC15]

Shit confirmed!  Waste of del Toro's time confirmed.

[Tauntaun]

Well, basically.

What does basically mean?  I so confused, forgive my nubness.

Edit:

[Howard Alan Treesong]

From what I've heard it's based on the appendix stuff, IE Aragorn and Gandalf's adventures before FOTR. Like finding Gullum and shit

Maybe del Toro will do Hobbit but pass off the second movie to, I dunno, Chris Weitz?

[Phoenix Dark]

From what I've heard it's based on the appendix stuff, IE Aragorn and Gandalf's adventures before FOTR. Like finding Gullum and shit

Maybe del Toro will do Hobbit but pass off the second movie to, I dunno, Chris Weitz?

I was about to say this. It would make sense for him to just do the Hobbit. I dunno if both films are going to be filmed at the same time ala Jackson's LOTR.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

speaking of BONERTON, apparently Peter Weir is attached to Gibson's Pattern Recognition. Please God I hope that actually happens please God. The basis of Pattern Recognition (mysterious online clips known as "The Footage" that cause an obsessive community to spring up about them; globe-trotting hijinx ensue), it would be awesome. Peter Weir could actually make The Footage as haunting and awesomely mysterious and awesome as it's described in the books. Is that slumming it for Weir? Maybe a little. On the other hand, he's such a visualist, I don't see much harm in him working on another person's script as a foundation.