Now that the contracts are signed and it’s all official that Guillermo Del Toro is going to be directing The Hobbit and the as-yet-unnamed (as far as I know) bridge film that spans the 60 years until Fellowship of the Ring, actors must be secured. GDT has stopped by TheOneRing.net to let the fans know just where things stand on that matter.
“I had the most charming meeting with Sir Ian, and all bureaucracy
pending, he’s on board, as is Andy Serkis,” he said. “We will continue giving you
progress reports as the occur. It is our intention that we will not
lose any of the key elements.”
Del Toro has a lot more to say – for instance, he would take issue with me calling The Hobbit sequel a bridge film: “When we did this we got really excited because this second film is not
a ‘tag on’, it’s not ‘filler’, it’s an integral part of telling the
story of those 50 years of history lost in the narrative. There will be
certain things that we will see from the first movie but from a
different point of view, but it will feel like a volume, in the 5
volumes of the entire story. It will not feel like a bridge, I’ve been
hearing it called ‘a bridge film’, it’s not, it’s an integral chapter
of the story, and I think we’re all on the same page.”
He also talks about what might be the main difference between his film and Peter Jackson’s original – he wants to use more animatronics that will be aided by CGI as opposed to creating a bunch of CGI creatures.
Check out the entire interview here; this is going to be a long journey for everybody and with GDT leading it we’ll be sure to be getting the inside view the whole way through.
28 comments
Two fat nerds make the entire LOTR saga after all. Go figure.
i like that all this is coming together but i have to say that i'm rather disappointed that The Hobbit is not being spread over two movies as originally thought lo those many years ago. don't need to see events from the first film done all rashomon, i'd rather see everything done just right.
I don't know how much truth is in this, but its an interesting read: http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/btm/feature/2008/04/25/del_hobbit/index.html
***Two fat nerds make the entire LOTR saga after all. Go figure.***
Eh, Jackson is not fat anymore….
What's funny is… Del Toro hates LOTR.
He's said so a couple of times. Not that he hates Jackson's movies, but the stories themselves and the kind of fantasy Tolkien wrote just didn't appeal to him.
Del Toro can do this movie justice in a way that PJ couldn't. I love the fact that Del Toro is using animatronics as opposed to CG. The only time I think CG is effective is when it is blended w/ real footage. There was too much damn CG in lotr!
So a poor filmmaker who loves Lord of the Rings is preferable to a great filmmaker who is more ambivalent? The only quote I've read from Del Toro claimed he couldn't get through the books when he was 11.
I'm just kind of disappointed it took 3 days for this to be a story on CHUD. The official announcement came out Friday morning.
I'm just kind of disappointed you don't read the site, as we ran a story on Friday:
/articles/articles/14498/1/IN-WHICH-WE-ACKNOWLEDGE-THAT-GUILLERMO-DEL-TORO-IS-OFFICIALLY-DIRECTING-THE-HOBBIT/Page1.html
This is a different story.
Devin pwns TB noobs, news at 11.
And Devin PWNS your anus (no lube) on a nightly basis. Whats your point?
Looking forward to this! LOTR fulfilled my lifelong dream of seeing the books come to the big screens and I have very few complaints with what Jackson did! As long as he is involved, this should RULE! In my opinion, what he did with the Trilogy EARNS him the right to experiment with another movie … why not? His respect for the license is obvious.
OPIE AND ANTHONY! O&A PARTY ROCK! XM 202!
Del Toro's use of animatronics is obvious, you just look at his films and know they are his films which is lame because I want it to feel like Jackson's LOTR. He had his own style and pacing to it, Del Toro has his and it will feel too obvious. Fucking new line who are too greedy in wanting this rushed because they'll lose the rights.
To Sam, above. Del Toro said he bounced off LOTR when he was 11, but was able to get into The Hobbit. The reason he gives for bouncing off LOTR was the "geneology" which means he made the mistake of trying to read that prologue "Concerning Hobbits". He does say that he loved "The Hobbit" when he was 11. The vibes with my experience when I was a kid. I read both Hobbit and LOTR, but it was The Hobbit that I truly loved for a long long time, even though I loved both. By comparison, Jackson said that he took "forever to plow through" the Lord of the Rings. At least Del Toro loved "The Hobbit" when he was a kid. That's all I require from him, a bit of genuine personal passion for the book, as opposed to Jackson, who says he HATES Wizards and Magic, on the LOTR extended edition commentaries. HATES WIZARDS. I'm glad Del Toro is the director. Jackson, if you check out his real attitude toward's Tolkien's material, really didn't give a damn about the more poetic aspects of Tolkien's work. Del Toro gets it, I believe.
I think both directors are best for their parts… Jackson is the "epic" guy, and Del Toro is the "fairy tale" guy. Works for me.
I have to say this is a waste of Del Toro's talents, I'd rather see him work on Mountains of Madness.
Imagine if Ron Perlman became ill or even (forbid) died while he was making The Hobbit and its pointless cash-in 'bridge' sequel. Del Toro would be kicking himself for not being able to finish his Hellboy trilogy. He said himself that he wanted to get the third one done because Perlman isn't getting any younger.
Ron Perlman…die?! The man is immortal, and should have his own line of Chuck Norris-style slogans by now. He's like an action-hero Tom Waits: good to growl for eternity.
Imagine if a few million tons of carbon dioxide releases from underneath the ocean, immediately wiping out the majority of the human population. Then we won't get ANY more movies, EVER! Now then….Ron Perlman dying of illness is highly unlikely, the guy seems to be in pretty good shape. If it came down to it, I'd be more worried about GDT himself. But look at what we are talking about here? Ridiculous.
To anyone still calling the second film a "bridge" or a cash-in (ie: tits like you, Marty J) then go and read Tolkien's Unfinished Tales instead of sounding like smug, ignorant Comic Book Guys.
Hopefully Jackson's two Pippas, or whatever their names are, will keep their noses out of del Toro's project… otherwise we're once again bound to see some politically correct revisionazism in action. "If you want him, come and claim him!". "Here, let me just act like the noble and wise king, and murder this here messenger"… urgh.
What, not enough room in the budget for a face-lift for Ian Holm? I could watch that guy eat a sandwich and still be entertained, so I hope they realize sooner rather than later that they won't find anyone half as good for the role.
Well, I made it through all the books when I was 13, and then and now, the Hobbit is head and shoulders a more enjoyable read.
I'm just excited to see a series past from master craftsman to master craftsman. Doesn't happen a lot in Hollywood.
He mentions the 5 volumes of the saga. What is the fifth?
not being a smug,ignorant Comic Book Guy, i'd rather have the hobbitt split over two movies than one movie and another devoted to the roughly written pure narration that is Unfinished Tales pages 337-552. seems a little too much like patton oswald realising how little we needed a prequel triliogy (not now, voivodling, not now.) we know what happened then, we don't need some "fleshing out."
by the way, that was supposed to read pages 337-352. that is, 15 pages. with notes and editor's comments.
Volume One – The Hobbit
Volume Two – Untitled "Bridge" Film
Volume Three – The Fellowship of the Ring
Volume Four – The Two Towers
Volume Five – The Return of the King
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