Del Toro leaves The Hobbit

[Phoenix Dark]

It’s Halo all over again. Yet another Peter Jackson produced project is headed the way of the Titanic thanks to endless studio delays. This time it’s The Hobbit
in need of a flotation device.

In a press release sent to The One Ring director Guillermo del Toro delivered a body blow to Tolkien fans by announcing he’s leaving the Jackson produced Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. If someone else eventually makes it he’ll still be involved, since he co-wrote the current script and will continue to participate in the writing process, but he won’t direct as originally planned.

At issue is the same thing that’s been the problem all along: MGM’s bankruptcy which has delayed the project over and over and over again. Del Toro explains, “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 .“ His decision? “The mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project.” And now he’s moving on.

It’s hard to fault Del Toro here. He originally took the job in early 2008 and in that time basically put his entire life on hold to move to New Zealand and immerse himself in Middle Earth with Peter Jackson and his team. At the time the movie was on the fast track and slated to begin shooting as soon as they were ready. And they’ve been ready for some time now, waiting, and waiting, and waiting for MGM to get its legal troubles sorted out so they can move forward. Now, at least with Del Toro, they never will.

Peter Jackson assures us that the project isn’t dead. He says, “New Line and Warner Bros will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for the Hobbit. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work.”

Things would go a lot smoother if Jackson simply stepped up and did what he should have done all along, by directing the movies himself. But his manager tells Deadline that is absolutely not a possibility. And if that's his attitude, then I think fans have good cause to be worried here.

You should be worried because this is all to similar to what happened on the Peter Jackson produced Halo movie. After encountering funding problems that project was delayed, stalled, lost momentum and basically fell apart. it needed Jackson to step into the directors chair to save it. Putting Jackson in the movie's director's chair would have saved it. He refused and in the end it ended up on a shelf somewhere, doomed to spend eternity in development hell. Here’s hoping this isn’t a sign that The Hobbit is headed for a similar fate.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Guillermo-Del-Toro-Abandons-The-Hobbit-Will-Not-Direct-18792.html

Kinda torn on this. On one hand I was looking forward to the film and trusted Del Toro/Jackson. On the other hand the studio drama seemed like the perfect recipe to spawn a money grabbing adaption that turned The Hobbit in to LOTR 2, in 3D.

The Hobbit is not LOTR. It doesn't require two films and multiple battles. Maybe this is a good thing, and will allow Del Toro to do new stuff, and Jackson to get out of the creative slump he's in (haven't seen Lovely Bones but heard it sucked).

[Human Snorenado]

What happens first: principal photography starts on The Hobbit flicks or A Dance with Dragons is released?  YOU DECIDE!

[Phoenix Dark]

ADWD no doubt. I'd say it comes out this holiday season to hype up the HBO show, but with the convention season looming I'm starting to get nervous. At the latest, spring 2011. And god that would piss me off

[Ichirou]

Peter Jackson am suiciding?

[Cormacaroni]

As a major Tolkien fan, I'm utterly unmoved by this turn of events. If anything, I'm happy that Del Toro can make some movies that I actually get a chance to see. If the Hobbit never gets made, I won't be upset in the least.

[chronovore]

As a major Tolkien fan, I'm utterly unmoved by this turn of events. If anything, I'm happy that Del Toro can make some movies that I actually get a chance to see. If the Hobbit never gets made, I won't be upset in the least.

I'm with you. I don't see movies as the ultimate endpoint for novels; it's just a different way of telling the same tale, and almost by definition it will lack the depth of the original prose.

[Junpei the Tracer!]

Now he can make another Hellboy. This is good news.

[Great Rumbler]

If it means a shorter wait to finally get that Del Toro-directed At the Mountains of Madness movie, then I'm all for it.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I still want this to happen though. 

[close]

[Bloodwake]

As a major Tolkien fan, I'm utterly unmoved by this turn of events. If anything, I'm happy that Del Toro can make some movies that I actually get a chance to see. If the Hobbit never gets made, I won't be upset in the least.

I'm with you. I don't see movies as the ultimate endpoint for novels; it's just a different way of telling the same tale, and almost by definition it will lack the depth of the original prose.

SOMEONE WITH INTELLIGENCE DISCUSSES BOOKS VS MOVIES

chronovore

[fistfulofmetal]

Now he can make another Hellboy. This is good news.

yay!!

[Diunx]

Now he can make another Hellboy. This is good news.

Fucking A, love those movies.

[Great Rumbler]

Hellboy can go die in a fire if it meant actually getting a Del Toro-directed At the Mountains of Madness movie.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

I agree with the chorus that Del Toro should be doing anything but The Hobbit, I love the shit outta his movies and I'd much, much, much rather see something that comes from him instead of him shepherding another guy's project to fruition.

and I would quite like a Hellboy 3 now that I think about it.

[Bebpo]

Now he can make another Hellboy. This is good news.

yesss, would want.

[Ichirou]

Last Hellboy flopped, didn't it?  Pretty sure the franchise is dead.

[Great Rumbler]

Last Hellboy flopped, didn't it?  Pretty sure the franchise is dead.

Hellboy 1 did $99 million worldwide on a budget of $66 million.

Hellboy 2 did $160 million worldwide on a budget of $85 million.

[The Fake Shemp]

Hellboy 3 > bloated, two-part Hobbit movies

[Eel O'Brian]

if this means less slow motion hobbit fanthing erotica in the world i am all for it

[BlueTsunami]

Hellboy can go die in a fire if it meant actually getting a Del Toro-directed At the Mountains of Madness movie.

This, no doubt

[The Fake Shemp]

Because Hellboy films are enjoyable, dull and unnecessary films are not.

[Phoenix Dark]

Because Hellboy films are enjoyable, dull and unnecessary films are not.

I'll meet you half way, Hellboy sucks, dull/unnecessary films suck too

[BlackMage]

PD is funny 

[Ichirou]

I thought both Hellboy movies were terrible.

[chronovore]

I don't see movies as the ultimate endpoint for novels; it's just a different way of telling the same tale, and almost by definition it will lack the depth of the original prose.

I'm gonna frame this and hang it on my wall.

So true.

As a major Tolkien fan, I'm utterly unmoved by this turn of events. If anything, I'm happy that Del Toro can make some movies that I actually get a chance to see. If the Hobbit never gets made, I won't be upset in the least.

I'm with you. I don't see movies as the ultimate endpoint for novels; it's just a different way of telling the same tale, and almost by definition it will lack the depth of the original prose.

SOMEONE WITH INTELLIGENCE DISCUSSES BOOKS VS MOVIES

chronovore

Wow, thanks guys. I wish I could take credit for that, but it may be very near verbatim from a statement made by either Charles Stross or William Gibson while discussing giving up the rights to their books so someone else can make a movie from them. I read it and felt a surging "YES!" rising out of me as well. 10 minutes of googling hasn't turned up the interview though, so I'm at a loss.

[naff]

I thought both Hellboy movies were terrible.

.

[brawndolicious]

I, personally, couldn't give a shit about the whole lotr universe but I would love it if Tolkien was still alive so we could see him go all alan moore/anthony burgess on the studios and filmmakers.

At least then all this bitching & moaning and back and forth about how to do film adaptations could get a little bit spicier.  It'd be more entertaining than the movies themselves.

[Bloodwake]

I don't see movies as the ultimate endpoint for novels; it's just a different way of telling the same tale, and almost by definition it will lack the depth of the original prose.

I'm gonna frame this and hang it on my wall.

So true.

As a major Tolkien fan, I'm utterly unmoved by this turn of events. If anything, I'm happy that Del Toro can make some movies that I actually get a chance to see. If the Hobbit never gets made, I won't be upset in the least.

I'm with you. I don't see movies as the ultimate endpoint for novels; it's just a different way of telling the same tale, and almost by definition it will lack the depth of the original prose.

SOMEONE WITH INTELLIGENCE DISCUSSES BOOKS VS MOVIES

chronovore

Wow, thanks guys. I wish I could take credit for that, but it may be very near verbatim from a statement made by either Charles Stross or William Gibson while discussing giving up the rights to their books so someone else can make a movie from them. I read it and felt a surging "YES!" rising out of me as well. 10 minutes of googling hasn't turned up the interview though, so I'm at a loss.

I present this argument in conversations quite often and most people are just like "bu bu bu bu IT'S NOT THE BOOK"