  Guillermo del Toro opens up on ‘The Hobbit’: ‘It wasn’t just MGM’As Peter Jackson makes progress — in theory — on getting “The Hobbit” moving forward again, Guillermo del Toro has a few things to say about the movie he spent two years developing. The genre auteur says he has no regrets about departing the New Zealand production, but says that anyone who think that MGM’s financial mess was the main culprit for his departure is oversimplifying the issue. “People kept misconstruing that it was MGM. It came from many factors,” Del Toro told 24 Frames in an interview at Comic-Con. “It wasn’t just MGM. These are very complicated movies, economically and politically. You have to get the blessing from three studios.” More.. Comic-Con wrap up and notebook
TORn was among the very first panels to kick the week off and it helped produce a torrent of film industry folks and fans who wanted to touch base on ‘The Hobbit’ films. So here is a rundown from the TORn perspective of what went on.
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More about Casting Rumors, ComicCon, Conventions, Director Rumors, Events, Guillermo Del Toro, Hobbit: Movie, Liv Tyler, Peter Jackson Guillermo Hopes Peter Jackson Directs Hobbit
“As a fan, I hope those movies get made,” del Toro mentioned to an audience at ComicCon during a Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark presentation. He added “And I hope to God Peter Jackson directs them. They’re beautiful and they’re needed in the world.” The situation at MGM is believed to be the main obstacle for getting The Hobbit off the ground. But the production could ramp up reasonably quickly with del Toro noting that 98 percent of the first movie is already designed along with approximately half of the second one. You can read the entire article at Entertainment Weekly. Update: thanks to message board member Theodred for finding a short clip of an interview with Guillermo at Comic Con where he discusses this topic. View the video at mtv.com. Update: There is another exclusive interview with Guillermo del Toro discussing the same topic, including additional comments on The Hobbit. Read the entire article at Deadline | Hollywood. Dr. Who (Sylvester McCoy) is Bilbo Baggins after all?
On the making of The HobbitGodron Campbell has an article summarizing the state of play from an NZ perspective: Given that successive governments have identified the film industry as a prime catalyst of the knowledge economy, you might have expected more local media attention would be being paid to the sale of MGM, which will directly determine whether and when The Hobbit gets made here, and by whom. Taking the director’s chair on this project has implications for Peter Jackson’s career in the wake of The Lovely Bones (a failure) and King Kong (perceived by some as a failure, even though it wasn’t a commercial flop) while the sudden departure of the originally designated director Guillermo del Toro from the project has added gossip fuel to a story that already had major implications for our skills base and also (locations! locations!) for our tourism industry. More.. Lions Gate Said to Woo MGM Studio Creditors; Seeks Terms Icahn Would BackJuly 14 (Bloomberg) — Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., the independent film and TV producer, has approached creditors of ailing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. to help shape a plan to acquire the studio, two people with knowledge of the situation said. Lions Gate Vice Chairman Michael Burns has been meeting in New York with investors who hold some of MGM’s $3.7 billion debt, according to the people, who requested anonymity because the discussions are private. More.. Peter Jackson meeting with ‘Hobbit’ actors“The Hobbit” still has not been officially greenlighted, but director Peter Jackson is in Los Angeles this week quietly meeting with actors. The casting trip, which also included stops in New York and the U.K., underscores the progress being made on a complex series of deals to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novel to the big screen. Sources say Jackson’s pact with Warner Bros. to direct the two-part “Hobbit” adaptation is close to done, but the sticking point continues to be the dire financial situation at MGM, which holds half the rights to the property. More.. Guillermo del Toro At Peace With Hobbit Decision
Del Toro plans to attend Comic-Con to be part of a preview for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a horror film he both produced and co-wrote. He clearly still likes to excite his fans and noted “We’re gonna announce a few things at Comic-Con that are surprises. But I’m probably going to announce my next directing project right after Comic-Con. It’s a pretty big one.” That should perk up the ears of those who love his movies. While del Toro truly was saddened to leave The Hobbit (possibly to Peter Jackson’s direction), he did tell Entertainment Weekly that ”at the same time, I’m entirely at peace with it.” Read the entire article here. More Gandalf MagicFrom www.smh.com.au When The Diary’s Hobbiton correspondent, Steve Meacham, spoke to Sir Ian McKellen, he made sure to ask him about – what else? – the possibility of his reprising Gandalf in a film adaptation of The Hobbit. ”I’m waiting to hear when the Hobbit is going to be made,” McKellen said. ”We don’t know who is going to direct it. Peter Jackson is currently the producer and he’s currently casting it. I’ve just been to Wellington where I met a lot of people who have been working on it for a year now. The sets are being built. The costumes are being designed. The creatures are being designed. It is all ready to go.
Comic-Con Thursday sked released and TORn is on it!
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