Guillermo del Toro will not direct ‘The Hobbit’ because of studio uncertainty

(HMG) – So why the heck is filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) walking away from one of the most  highly anticipated forthcoming projects, The Hobbit, as director? As Del Toro and The Hobbit producer Peter Jackson explained to Lord of the Rings, fansite TheOneRing.net, the two Hobbit films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary preamble to The Lord of the Rings, are still officially scheduled for release in Dec. 2012 and Dec. 2013, but the reality is of uncertainty.  Del Toro will still collaborate on the screenplay with Jackson and his LOTR co-screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, for the next several months.   But when Del Toro signed on to direct The Hobbit two years ago, he moved to New Zealand to work with Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens, expecting  it would be about a three year commitment.  But MGM, which co-owns the rights to a feature film version of The Hobbit with New Line Cinema, the studio that made the LOTR trilogy, officially went up for sale with a reported $3.7 billion in debt, a process that has dragged on for months and thrown the prospect of any future projects  including, for example, another James Bond film in doubt. Therefore the Hobbit has no official greenlight and cannot move forward. “We have been caught in a very tangled negotiation,” Del Toro said. “Now I have been on the project for nearly two years. We have designed all the creatures, the sets, the wardrobe, animatics and planned action sequences and we are very, very prepared for when it is finally triggered. We don’t know anything until the MGM situation is resolved.” With no start date in sight and several other commitments hanging in the balance as a director and producer, including possible films of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Del Toro apparently felt that the endeavor back into Middle Earth would have to proceed without him at the helm.

Jackson, who said he’ll meet with New Line and Warner Bros. execs this week to start securing a new director, added the following: “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 ingrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA.”

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