You've heard the rumors and now there's some substance behind the word on the street. The Hollywood Reporter says that Guillermo del Toro has entered official talks to direct the two back-to-back installments of THE HOBBIT. Should things get resolved quickly with the WGA strike, HOBBIT would be del Toro's next film after wrapping up HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY. Because of that pesky strike, New Line and MGM haven't set a writer to adapt Tolkien's "The Hobbit" into two films but del Toro and Peter Jackson would "oversee" production of the script. The studios have already set a 2009 start date for the movies, which have been budgeted at $150 million a piece (wowsers). Sam Raimi was an early rumored name for the directing gig after it became clear that Jackson would be too busy to return as director. But it became clear to fans (and obviously studio heads) that del Toro was the man for the job. He brings passion for the material, visual flair and experience in the fantastic. So while I never was a huge fan of the LOTR series, I'm still eager to see what del Toro can do with the material (cause oddly enough I dug that Rankin-Bass animated version when I was a kid).
Extra Tidbit:
The HOBBIT films are scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011.
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4:58PM on 01/31/2008
However, I'm still skeptical. Having made only one movie I have really liked (Pan's Labyrinth), Del Toro has not won me over yet. I want to like him, I really do but let's be honest: Hellboy was laughable (and I assume Hellboy 2 will be too, but to his credit, these movies should have never been made) and Blade 2, despite being the best of the series, sucked just as bad. Like I said though I want to like him and I know he is capable of making great movies after loving Labyrinth, but let's not take a chance with The Hobbit. Let the guy work up to making a movie that people have so many expectations for.