Variety and The Hollywood Reporter are reporting progress on the MGM debt situation that has famously kept two ‘Hobbit’ films progressing and have stalled a greenlight on the films for years now.
THR details the plans to make the nearly $4 billion dissapear here while the Variety story here details a Wednesday conference call involving debt holders. A lot of things need to fall into place but both stories indicate a September 15 deadline is being respected, which a source told TORn would be met, unlike previous deadlines which have previously been extended. Thanks to friend Kristin Thompson for the heads up on the Variety article.
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In an article by Australia’s Herald Sun about the re-release of James Cameron’s Avatar in 3D later this month and his upcoming producing role on GDT’s next directorial project At The Mountains Of Madness, there’s some very interesting information on James Cameron’s thoughts on GDT directing The Hobbit.
“I was telling him for a long time to get out of that thing because there is only room for one captain on the ship,” Cameron says. “Instinctively I knew that Peter was going to take over and do the movie. Guillermo, to his credit, didn’t listen to me and wanted to do continue and had some great designs – and I have seen all the designs. Of course he would have done a spectacular job, but don’t we want to see Peter do it? He should do it and Guillermo should do his thing. That’s what I told both of them – you should just stay in your corners.“
Speaking of the designs for The Hobbit, it might be good to recall that in an interview with James Cameron by Ain’t It Cool News last August on the then to-be-released Avatar, there was mention of James Cameron having seen WETA’s designs for The Hobbit. A snippet from that article reads:
Cameron mentioned that he’d seen some of their [WETA’s] design work on THE HOBBIT and that it really is the original trilogy world created by Weta and Peter Jackson, but with a slight influence of Guillermo del Toro’s style. Cameron said the two styles mix perfectly together.
Back then, GDT used to frequent our message boards, and joined in our discussion about the AICN article. Here’s what he had to say:
For what is worth: Jim and I have been dear friends for over 17 years now. But that has not prevented us being very critical of each other’s work through the years. Just so you know- he would NEVER declare anything like this if he didn’t feel that way. What he saw were very strong designs and maquettes: GOBLINS and their environment, SMAUG (fully designed but without final color / texture), SPIDERS OF MIRKWOOD, MIRKWOOD, STONE TROLLS, WARGS, IRON HILL DWARVES, GUNDABAD ARMY, THRANDUILL’S THRONE ROOM etc, etc and he was delighted. This for me, as his friend, and as a filmmaker, meant a whole lot. You will / may disagree at the end of the process but, I assure you, this IS his opinion.
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Writer and director Peter Briggs spent a little time at the Weta booth during Comic-Con and just as in previous interactions with the TORn staff, he was friendly and funny. Now rumors are circulating that he may be involved in a film with Weta called “Panzer 88.” The premise of the film, talked about by Briggs at a panel during the convention, sounds perfect for Richard Taylor and his team. It reportedly depicts “a German tank crew on the run from a malevolent supernatural entity in the snowy Russian wastes.” Bloody-disgusting.com has a well-written speculative piece on what could be keeping the Peter Jackson / Richard Taylor effects company busy. See the story here.
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Aug 10 (Reuters) – Spyglass Entertainment is nearing an agreement to run Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc once the film studio restructures $4 billion of debt this summer through the bankruptcy process, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. An agreement could come as soon as this week, valuing MGM at about $1.9 billion, the newspaper said, citing the sources. The sources also said MGM hopes to file a prepackaged bankruptcy in mid-September when its latest debt waiver expires, according to the Journal.
MGM creditors have spent the better part of a week with Spyglass co-heads Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum negotiating the makeup of a board, and have worked out financial details, the newspaper said. More..
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With two “Hobbit” movies near the center of the 3D movie debate, the hot-button film topic has cropped up again with some evidence presented from the Los Angeles Times that audiences don’t always love wearing special glasses at movies. Read on.
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Michael Cieply at the New York Times has written a nice piece about how resistance against 3D is forming in Hollywood. He used many sources from Comic-Con and says that filmmakers may carry more clout with studios than people who cough up money to see films. He also quotes a TORn article and our own webmaster in the story that talks about an issue important to film fans world wide.
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