Talk of two Hobbits

When it was initially announced that filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was entering the Shire for back-to-back HOBBIT movies, it was stated that he’d be doing an adaptation of Tolkein’s book and then a “bridge” movie that would deal with the 60-year period between THE HOBBIT and FELLOWSHIP.

That might not be entirely accurate, as Guillermo now tells Empire: “We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur.”

Producer and LOTR adapter Peter Jackson succinctly adds: “We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie.”

That still leaves the question of the additional material the duo was planning to adapt, and precisely how they’ll split the story so that it feels organic when one movie ends and the next begins. The first movie is due December 2011.