My word, we did not see this one coming. While the path to the screen of “The Hobbit” hasn’t been an easy one by any stretch, with rights issues and MGM’s financial speculation consistently delaying the film, which was originally set for release this year, it seemed like everything was set for Guillermo del Toro to direct two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, which serves as a prequel to the hugely successful “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and we’d assumed he would see the project through.
But it seems that the delays have proven too much, as del Toro announced to fan site TheOneRing (via @ianmckellen118) today that he’s leaving the project. Del Toro’s script, co-written with Peter Jackson, director of the original trilogy, will remain intact, but another director will be sought.
Del Toro told the site, “In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director.”
Meanwhile, Jackson commented “We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave the Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects. The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years. Guillermo is one of the most remarkable creative spirits I’ve ever encountered and it has been a complete joy working with him. Guillermo’s strong vision is engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA.”
The biggest issues are the encroaching four films he’s supposed to make for Universal that would keep him busy all the way through 2017.
And in a lot of ways, this comes as kind of a relief — we’d always been concerned by the amount of time that a filmmaker as idiosyncratic as del Toro would have to put into the project, and it’s always been clear that he’s got his own plans. Among the many projects he’s set to take on include adaptations of Dan Simmons’ Dickens-horror novel “Drood,” new versions of “Frankenstein” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” and an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” (these are the four Uni projects he has set up). From there it’s a possible collaboration with Neil Gaiman on Marvel’s “Dr. Strange,” the superpowered spy-drama “Champions” with Tom Cruise, and the Spanish-language “Saturn and the End of Days,” the final part of the trilogy begun with “Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.” He’s also got a series of films aimed at kids coming up with Disney, as well as “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark” later in the year with Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes, which Del Toro wrote and produced. He’s also executive producing every project under the sun including an English-language version of “The Orphanage” (he also produced the original in Spanish) and many more.
It seems clear that the behind-the-scenes troubles for the film have proven heavy on del Toro’s shoulders – only this week he said “We have been caught in a very tangled negotiation. Now I have been on the project for nearly two years… We don’t know anything until [the] MGM [situation] is [re]solved.” It definitely feels like the director’s patience has worn thin, and he’s decided that the project simply isn’t worth a decade of his life, particularly with a start date still seemingly up in the air.
Additionally, there’s been some speculation that del Toro may have left the project because of disagreements about shooting the films in 3D; Roger Ebert tweeted that “Today: Del Toro is off “The Hobbit.” Last week: Del Toro announced he wouldn’t film it in 3D.” While this misrepresents his position somewhat (Del Toro originally said that the idea had been discussed “literally once,” and that it hadn’t been budgeted for), it’s a heartening thing to hear, if true (and we imagine the delays are more at fault, really) that some directors are taking a stand against dimensionalization.
While we’re glad that del Toro’s script will still be used, we wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the project stalled for a few years at this point. Either we’ll see a new director announced within the next week or two, or we won’t see the project until the middle part of this decade at the earliest.