At the premiere of Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Orphanage”, in Paris today (January 29), a French translator for the Mexican director apparently revealed that the filmmaker has been confirmed as the director of the upcoming “The Hobbit” films.
You’ll remember just yesterday it was reported that Del Toro was officially in talks with Peter Jackson and the two studios producing the films (New Line and MGM). The important part starts around :40, see clip below.
Female Translator (via Theonering.net): “Today it is our pleasure to announce something that everyone was hoping for, Guillermo will direct ‘The Hobbit’”
(Clapping) [ed. ok, if you say so our french is the pits]
However, an “additional inside source” tells TheOnering.net that the deal is not yet signed, but apparently has a 99% probability of happening. Evidently we shouldn’t expect an official announcement until after the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) Strike is resolved.
Movieweb says “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy composer Howard Shore’s involvement was “instrumental” in the agreement between New Line and Del Toro. Assuming this means Shore is on board, this means another familiar element of the original trilogy that fans adored will be returning to the fold.