Guillermo del Toro and Peter JacksonVariety and Stuff.co.nz are reporting that the deal is done, and fan-favorite director Guillermo del Toro will take on the ‘Hobbit’ films!

From Variety.com: [Full Story]

In a major step forward on “The Hobbit,” Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct the New Line-MGM tentpole and its sequel.

The widely expected announcement came Thursday afternoon jointly from exec producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich and Mary Parent, the newly named chief of MGM’s Worldwide Motion Picture Group.

Del Toro’s moving to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Jackson and his Wingnut and WETA production teams. He’ll direct the two films back to back, with the sequel which will deal with the 60-year period between “The Hobbit” and “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

New Line is overseeing development and will manage production. Both pics are being co-produced and co-financed by New Line Cinema and MGM, with Warner Bros. distributing domestically and MGM handling international.

From Stuff.co.nz: [Full Story] (Image above courtesy of Stuff.co.nz)

The official announcement was made in Hollywood by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson – who will co-produce The Hobbit – fellow producer Fran Walsh, and executives from New Line Cinema and MGM.

Jackson and Walsh said del Toro was “a genuine storyteller” of outstanding ability.

“A true original, Guillermo is a cinematic magician who has never lost his child-like sense of wonder. He understands that the fantastic must be grounded in the real and that all stories are only ever a reflection of ourselves,” say Jackson and Walsh.

“We have long admired Guillermo’s work and cannot think of a more inspired filmmaker to take the journey back to Middle-earth. We are delighted ‘The Hobbit’ is in such trustworthy hands.”


Don’t know what to do with yourself? Jump into the forums or into Barliman’s chatroom to talk with Tolkien fans throughout the world! [Forum] [Barlimans Chat]

Comments coming out of ComicCon reported by IFMagazine: “It is my personal belief that in the next four or five days it’ll be like watching the end of AMERICAN IDOL with a very fat singer. In the next four or five days, we will know if we were able to conclude every legal thing that is pending for me to be able to do it or not. It can go either way, but I can assure you very soon we will know and that’s all I can say about that. I hope I get to do it.” Read More

Guillermo talks Hobbit at NYCC 2008The ‘Reckoning’ is upon us! MTV caught up with Guillermo del Toro at the New York Comic-Con and got yet another snippet concerning ‘The Hobbit’ films. And is it just me, or would Ron Perlman make a perfect Beorn? Let me be the first to throw it out there that if Guillermo del Toro is in fact the director of ‘The Hobbit’ films, we can expect to see Perlman involved in some capacity. He’s a talented actor with a great range and an established fanbase in our genre. Check out the video over at MTV Rough Cut! [Click Here] (Thanks to Forum member BuckyUnderBelly for the heads up!)

nullMessage Board member Elven was kind enough to transcribe the April 20 interview with Guillermo Del Toro from the Voice of Krypton site, posted on TORN here.

“we are down to the last points, but they are very hard points…we are going to be respectful of every single thing that is paradigm. But within that paradigm it will be a movie of mine, and it will be a movie I enjoy making …”

Continue reading “Transcript from Del Toro Interview for Voice of Krypton”

Interesting news from Kristen Thompson’s blog, The Frodo Franchise:

“The Tolkien Trust and New Line are at least in talks. They have twice been able to agree on extensions in the deadline for the studio to file a response to the complaint. The two sides appear to have been in discussions since around March 7, and New Line has agreed to let the Trust look at some documents relevant to an audit, presumably regarding the income and expenses relating to the trilogy. Such moves suggest to me that both sides have some reason to believe that the case can be settled. The Trust has not filed an injunction barring New Line from beginning production on The Hobbit. The filmmakers keep hinting that the project is slowly moving toward an official start of pre-production.”

The current response date is now set for May 14. Stay tuned! Thanks to board members Compa Mighty and ArathornJax for the alert. Read More