I’ve been dragging my feet on reporting this, but since I’ve gotten dozens of emails asking about it, here you go:
The One Ring is reporting that Neill Blomkamp, director District 9 and Peter Jackson protege, is the latest guy in the running to direct The Hobbit.
It makes plenty of sense, and I’m sure that there have been meetings about it. I’m sure Neill and Peter have talked about it and there’s interest from both of them. But here’s the thing:
This movie isn’t happening anytime soon.
The Hobbit can’t go ahead until MGM’s fiscal disaster is dealt with, and that process has been taking forever. It’s like watching a loved one die of a particularly slow form of cancer. As for how serious the situation is, remember that the James Bond franchise has been put on hold. Think about it – nobody’s even bothering to develop the next James Bond movie, The Hobbit is also going nowhere fast.
Again, I don’t doubt that Blomkamp is talking to Jackson et al about – I know that there were auditions for Bilbo in LA this week. But I think this is all busy work that’s happening to keep the wheels greased; the Bilbo audition tapes will go in a file so that whoever ends up directing will have them on hand when the green light turns on. And Jackson is trying to keep a director attached so that he has somebody in the driver’s seat whenever the film goes, instead of having to waste more time searching.
But how long can Blomkamp wait? IMDB Pro has an old listing for Untitled Neill Blomkamp Project that’s supposed to be in production by about now. He’s got no follow-up to District 9 on the immediate horizon. I would bet The Hobbit doesn’t start until late 2011 – if it ever even starts at all (right now I’m feeling cynical about it. There’s money already accruing against it, and if the costs are too high by the time the MGM solution happens, nobody’s going to want to pile 200 million more on top of that).
So yeah, right now Neill Blomkamp is on the short list. But it’s a long wait for that list.
18 comments
I'm more distressed about the Bond development (or lack thereof) than any of the Hobbit rumblings post-Del Toro. Craig's not an old man, but being in his ealry 40s, he's not gonna be able to play Bond forever. I'd love to get one or two more good 007 flicks with him as Bond and not see his era go the way of Tim Dalton.
They should really stop with this rumor bullshit…it's more annoying then anything.
I agree with Michael above. I liked the new energy and direction the past two Bond flicks had and was more interested than I have been in years to see what happened next.
Regarding Blomkamp, I'd rather see him so something original or still sci-fi. And if he was going to adapt anything I wish it was still possible for him to do the Halo movie. His live action shorts were awesome.
"It's like watching a loved one die of a particularly slow form of cancer." Easy with the hyperbole Devin, it's a movie.
CHUD and hyperbole? Get out.
@Chris: He was talking about MGM
"It's like watching a loved one die of a particularly slow form of cancer." Nothing can compare to that, such a horrible thing for anyone to experience. Yes it sucks that this film is being held up but that is a shitty thoughtless comparison.
I don't understand the Bond holdup. If you need to get out of a financial hole, then a guaranteed money-maker like Bond should be a no-brainer.
I know an NYC actor who auditioned for the HOBBIT this week, for the part human warrior–he wasn't even told the name of that character, but the dialog wasn't anything I recognized form the book. When it was over, he told that there was no director present and that it felt like everyone in the room was spinning their wheels. He came home feeling very discouraged.
It's amazing that Devin won't report an actual movie news item until people force him to do so via email,yet he won't hesitate to put up a lot of bullshit that has nothing to do with movies.
@David Banner, it's still only a movie studio.
If this leads to a bootleg of a coked-out Chris Klein auditioning as Bilbo, it will have been worth it.
If Superman Returns can get made after all the time and money wasted leading up to it, The Hobbit will do so, too.
If they're planning to show Saruman in the "expanded/bridge/prequel" portions, they better hurry their asses up. Christopher Lee is very very old and very very irreplaceable.
Comment #8—They always sort of did that in the past, but apparently the well's run dry if they can't afford to even do THAT anymore. If they can't even get a Bond movie out, they're in more than just the usual horrible financial trouble. That's about all there is to understand.
@#14: Really really sad, but I think we'll be seeing re-casting by the time this fucker rolls. If PJ was on the ball he'd shoot those sequences now. Even Viggo's showing his age these days. I think 10 years is one of those dangerous stretches. A person will have not just changed on the surface, their bone-structure alters as well as they get older.
Oh God sell the damn rights already, MGM. Sell The Hobbit, Bond and whatever other property you have left for whatever penny you're still able to get and go down into oblivion with at least a tiny bit of your dignity.
Daniel Craig was too old a man to start playing James Bond at the beginning of Bond career. In a way Craig is one of the saddest things I've seen. This lumbering dinosaur of series, trots out this aging hipster as a British answer to Vin Diesel but with slightly more hair.
When it comes to Bond there is only one name you need to remember, Connery, 4 other actors tired to be like him, and they succeed and failed on many different levels. Craig is Connery's younger kid brother in the way a younger brother never mensurable up, he can't be cool and hip, so he goes the other direction. And we kids were supposed to dig it. This beak is good for Bond, they need to come back refreshed with new directors, writers and most importantly actors. I do not need to see Judy Dench doing her best impression of Bilbo Baggins at the end of LOTR
Comments are shown as archived from the original site; new comments are closed.