Weta FX giant Richard Taylor talks The Hobbit

Award-winning FX man and exceptionally tall Kiwi Richard Taylor is still going to be playing in Middle Earth, even though the realm has a new overlord.

The Weta Workshop co-founder recently spoke about why his friend and colleague Peter Jackson stepped away from THE HOBBIT and its sequel after the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, instead handing the director’s gauntlet to Guillermo del Toro. Taylor says it’s “probably because he’s spent so long in Middle Earth… and probably felt a director such as Guillermo could bring something passionate and unique and original and new to the content for the sake of the fans.”

Unique and original? Does this mean the new Tolkein movies will have more of the freakies and creepies that del Toro is known for? Taylor says there will be consistency for characters that appear in both LOTR and the HOBBIT stories, but outside of that is anyone’s guess. “It’s an absolute delight to be working with Guillermo Del Toro,” Taylor says. “We’ve all enjoyed his craft as seen in PAN’S LABYRINTH and the HELLBOY movies. His unique aesthetic and storytelling style brings a lovely aesthetic to the world and one we’re enjoying being part of.“

And what about having the hairy-footed adventurer conform to the current 3D obsession, which Jackson himself is currently dabbling with on TINTIN? Taylor only says that “Like any film, there will be an effort to utilize the tools that are available to us today to achieve visual images that will excite and intrigue an audience as we did try 10 years ago.”