Del Toro to direct pair of Hobbits?
The Hollywood Reporter tells us that director Guillermo Del Toro is on the short list of names being considered to helm New Line Cinema’s proposed pair of films based on THE HOBBIT. The production, which will serve as a prequel to New Line’s LORD OF THE RINGS, is being co-financed by MGM, and the concern pressure is on to make the films perform better than last year’s THE GOLDEN COMPASS, which did well overseas but bombed in the U.S.
Few filmmakers have the cachet that del Toro has, as well as a deep love for the source material, an assured grasp of fantasy filmmaking and an understanding and command of geek culture as well as its respect. Del Toro has built that goodwill through such films as the Oscar-nominated “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Hellboy,” “Blade 2″ (which was made by New Line) and “The Devil’s Backbone.”
For New Line, making “Hobbit” had become a priority in the wake of its billion-dollar success of the Oscar-winning “The Lord of the Rings” movies, which were co-written and directed by Peter Jackson. Jackson wanted to adapt “Hobbit,” but when he got into a dispute with the studio over profit participation, the project went into limbo; neither New Line nor MGM, both rights-holders to the film, wanted to risk alienating fans of the trilogy by making an adaptation that didn’t have Jackson’s involvement.
The December resolution of the Jackson suit, facilitated by MGM CEO Harry Sloan, paved the way for “Hobbit” to get back on the road to the screen. However, because of other commitments that included “The Lovely Bones” and “Tintin,” Jackson could not take on writing and directing roles, opting instead to become an executive producer with approval over creative elements of the pair of films.
Because of the strike, no writer has been hired to adapt Tolkien’s children’s classic, though that process will be fast-tracked once it’s resolved. Del Toro and Jackson will oversee “Hobbit’s” writing.
Principal photography for the films, which will be shot simultaneously, is tentatively set for 2009. The production budget is estimated at $150 million per film. The release of the first film is slated for 2010 and the second in 2011.
Work on the screenplay cannot begin until the Writers strike is resolved; in any case, Del Toro is busy putting finishing touches on HELLBOY 2.
Although the proposed film is being called a “prequel” (because its events take place before LORD OF THE RINGS), in point of fact J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit was first published in 1937 - seventeen years before his three-part Lord of the Ringsnovel. The story has the titular Bilbo Baggins join Gandalf the wizard and a group of dwarves on a quest that leads to a confrontation with the dragon Smaug. Along the way, Bilbo encounter Gollum and acquires a magic ring that turns its wearer invisible - which turns out to be the ring of power that figures in the later trilogy.
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