In a statement to Theonering.net, Guillermo Del Toro has announced that he will no longer be directing the two part adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
The ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’-director began pre-production work, including scripts, in August 2008 alongside ‘Lord of the Rings’ team Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, but the protracted nature of developments at MGM meant that other long-term projects were becoming compromised. Del Toro will continue in a writing role for several months.
At a press conference for his latest film, ‘Splice’, Del Toro revealed that: “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."
Despite this, MGM’s financial woes are such that the film has still not been green-lit more than two years after Del Toro signed on as director. It was also reported in April that another major production, ‘Bond 23’, has been put on hold indefinitely.
“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”.
Good news though. Talking to New Zealand’s Dominion Post, Peter Jackson has said that he would consider taking over the directorial reins. "If that's what I have to do to protect Warner Bros' investment, then obviously that's one angle which I'll explore.”
It’s a shame that Del Toro won’t be at the helm after all this, but I doubt I’m alone in wanting Jackson back. It’s certainly difficult to imagine anyone else doing it at this stage – no decent director is going to come in and not want to make changes and Jackson surely wouldn’t sit around to basically re-adapt it.
Who would you prefer to direct? Do you think Jackson can resist?
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