The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

[Gold Trumpet]

Considering we debate all the time, it's hard to tell online about jokes, but glad it's that.

[MacGuffin]

Peter Jackson now says he MIGHT direct The Hobbit
Source: SciFi Wire

With director Guillermo del Toro now having left The Hobbit, all eyes have turned naturally to The Lord of the Rings director (and Hobbit co-producer and co-screenwriter) Peter Jackson to get behind the camera again. But Jackson's manager, Ken Kamins, dismissed that possibility, telling EW.com that it's "not something he can consider at this time as he has other commitments to other projects," among them his collaboration with Steven Spielberg on the two-part adaptation of The Adventures of Tintin.

Jackson, however, has not ruled out directing, saying to New Zealand's Dominion Post, "If that's what I have to do to protect Warner Bros' investment, then obviously that's one angle which I'll explore."

The financial woes of MGM Studios, which co-owns the rights to The Hobbit with Warner Brothers Pictures, are apparently what led del Toro to bow out of directing after two years of developing it as two films and co-writing the scripts with Jackson and co-producers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

MGM was put up for sale late last year. The legendary studio has several lucrative franchises in its portfolio—including the James Bond series and The Hobbit—but also a massive $3.7 billion debt. As a result, no one's been rushing to snatch the studio up.

Although the company has made scheduled payments on The Hobbit and preproduction has been ongoing, the possibility of a sale or even bankruptcy makes going forward with shooting the movies a dicey proposition. A source told EW.com that MGM's problems have no impact on the movie and that it has always been slated to start filming at the end of 2010, but if that's the case, why would del Toro leave?

With two years of his life already devoted to the project and another two to three years needed, plus other commitments piling up (including adaptations of Frankenstein and H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness), it seems del Toro decided he could not wait around any longer. There's also been speculation that he's not keen on the rumored possibility of shooting The Hobbit in 3-D. He revealed in a conference call with reporters last week that "3-D has been discussed literally once ... is there a chance it will become 3-D in the future? Maybe. Right now, it's not being planned as such."

[polkablues]

Pubrick shamed him into it.

[mogwai]

Brett Ratner will take over. Save yo money. Move on.

[Pas]

If that happens then it's an upgrade.

[MacGuffin]

Guillermo del Toro Comments More on Hobbit Departure
Source: ComingSoon

A week ago, Guillermo del Toro announced he was no longer going to direct The Hobbit films and promised the fans to comment more on his departure. He has now done so at TheOneRing.net forums and you can read his update below:

So, here I am again. As promised, I am posting a longer message before the week's end.

I have to thank those of you that have supported me from the start as well as those that converted along the way. And even say farewell to those that never did convert or believed.

I will miss Mr. Crere, the faith of Compa and Sir DennisC, the wisdom of Voronwe, the joy of Grammaboodawg, the support of Kangi Ska and so many, many others

Now, Pasi, et al- that is what is quite uncommon even on big films. Pete and co stuck to LOTR for years, I've developed films for years and I have shot many a movie on location... but rarely do you relocate for such massive amount of time specially when you have to do major ironclad agreements to put in deep freeze other contractual obligations with multiple studios.

My commitment to the project demanded enormous sacrifices both in personal and professional terms. The consequences of which will ripple for years. I relocated my entire life and family to New Zealand and first came on board in 2008.

So- while the cited delays, contractual complexities or obstacles, cannot be attributed to a single event or entity - you will simply have to believe that they were of sufficient complexity and severity to lead to the current situation. Trust me on this, Pasi- leaving NZ and the Hobbit crew is extremely painful.

As stated before- a wealth of designs, animatics, boards and sculptures is left behind representing accurately my ideas for Mirkwood, Spiders, Wargs, Stone Trolls, etc, etc and everyone (PJ, FW, PB and myself) has the same goal in mind: to try and ensure the best possible transition of the movie to a new director.

I believe these films will happen. Preproduction continues as we speak. The writing team of PJ,FW,PB and myself will keep moving the screenplays forward.

Perhaps even sooner than we may anticipate we will all look at the finished film and then- I will tear up whenever I recognize a set or a creature or a quirk created under my supervision. Everyone on these boards will get two movies. Me? I will be watching filmic family albums. Photos of my children from far away.

I hope you will understand how delicate the subject is for me.

I will drop by now and then, I will read the boards with interest and do hope to see some of you around at SDCC and many other places.

I am not here, however, to provide a blow-by-blow of what happened, but to assure you, as I have, that it has been the toughest situation of my life.

Beyond that- I am simply no longer an official voice for these projects. Be good, be well- and I invite you all to follow me into the next phase of my filmmaking journey.

Sincerely

GDT

[Pubrick]

who the fuck is "Pasi"?

also:

I will miss Mr. Crere, the faith of Compa and Sir DennisC, the wisdom of Voronwe, the joy of Grammaboodawg, the support of Kangi Ska and so many, many others

NEERRRD.

i have no idea what he's talking about. is he like a full on member of the forums or what? is he talking to some of the members directly by name (that's the best i can guess for who the hell Sir DennisC is).. geez. we've been worshipping the wrong director. if only we were obsessed with a director who was as big a loser as US like GDT seems to be.

[modage]

Hahahaha, using Brett Ratner as blackmail to get PJ to direct.  HILARIOUS.

Can WB & MGM Convince Peter Jackson To Direct 'The Hobbit' Before Brett Ratner Takes It?
source: the playlist as always.

Oh, holy hell. Hot on the heels of yesterday's news that David Yates might have been offered the director's chair on the two "Hobbit" films, Deadline have thrown a few more names into the hat. One of them will make fans of "The Lord of the Rings" series very happy, the other two... well, not so much.

Mike Fleming is reporting that Warner Bros and MGM executives are still trying to convince Peter Jackson, who helmed the original trilogy and is co-writing and producing the new films, that he should finish the job he started and direct "The Hobbit." Reports that MGM executives also asked the director for any spare change he might have on him are, as yet, unconfirmed.

Jackson previously refused to rule the possibility out, although his manager commented that "Peter has obligations and commitments to other films that would make it impossible for him to direct "The Hobbit" at this time, even if it was offered, which it hasn't been." Aside from that, he may have a reluctance to return to the well -- he's got a number of other projects circulating, and might want to move on to something new. Part of us wants the new films to have a different feel to the original,which is what Del Toro would have achieved. But having said that, if there's any truth to some of the other rumored names, we'd urge Jackson to sign on as quickly as possible.

Those names? Well, Fleming confirms that there's been interest from three directors, including the previously rumored David Yates. That's a pick we'd be fine with, but David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers") and semi-predictably, Brett Ratner are also said to have expressed an interest. We can almost hear the cries of fanboy anguish from here...

To be fair, there's no word if this interest is two-way; it could simply be that the directors have made it known that they'd like to be involved. Either way, it seems that reports that a concrete offer had been made to Yates was incorrect. Deadline say that one of the problems with finding a replacement for Del Toro is that there are so many gross participants (Tolkien's estate, Jackson, Saul Zaentz and Harvey Weinstein, for instance) that there isn't much to offer an A-list director.

Even so, we're not sure there's any excuse to hire Ratner or Dobkin. To be honest, and it's not a popular opinion, we don't believe that Ratner is the Antichrist; he's clearly kind of a douche, and has made mostly terrible films, but he's a more competent, tasteful director than the likes of Michael Bay or McG (which is admittedly pretty faint praise...). Were he to be hired (and he won't...), he'd probably do exactly what he did on "Red Dragon" or "X-Men: The Last Stand" -- pull off a workmanlike aping of the director that he's replaced, leading to a mediocre final project, but not a train wreck. Dobkin, however, would be a truly disastrous choice; "Wedding Crashers" was great, but "Fred Claus" was an abomination, and there's nothing in his CV to suggest he could handle anything like "The Hobbit." But five'll get you ten that neither get anywhere near the project, so it's not worth losing any sleep over, Tolkien fans.

Heat Vision also reported yesterday that Sam Raimi's name had been mentioned in connection with the project, but unfortunately he's now signed on to helm Disney's "Oz The Great and Powerful." Yates still looks like the best bet at the moment, unless Jackson can be convinced, but, if they're looking for inspiration, we'd urge WB & MGM execs to look over our list of potential directors for the project...


edit: added a source.

[Alexandro]

they should just scrap the whole thing. if is not PJ or del toro these films will be fucked.

[MacGuffin]

Del Toro tells how Hobbit fiasco will make his next movie BETTER
Source: SciFi Wire

Guillermo del Toro made a surprise appearance at the Saturn Awards on June 24. He was not on the list of expected guests and didn't have a film up for any category, but he came to celebrate with his buddies anyway. Even he didn't know yet that Peter Jackson would step in and direct the two Hobbit movies. Del Toro just got back in town and was already thinking positively about moving ahead with new films.

"I want to be, if possible, shooting in May next year," del Toro said in Burbank, Calif. "So I need something that is ready to go into preproduction immediately."

That rules out Hellboy III and the Frankenstein project del Toro wants to direct. Neither could have screenplays ready to go by May. "I'm presenting the storylines [for Frankenstein] to Universal, but the screenplay's not ready. Hellboy III is the same, so if we went into Hellboy, it would need to be the next movie after this one or whatever, but I don't know yet."

Del Toro added that he is choosing among three scripts and hopes to make his announcement at Comic-Con in July. He won't get to do Middle-earth, but del Toro has plans to create whole new worlds.

"Those are projects that are really great associations, world-creation projects, big projects," he said. "For me the only alternative was to do a very small movie right now, one of the ones I write that are very freaky, or do a movie where it was a world creation, to sort of go dive in really quickly."

The two years spent in preproduction on The Hobbit won't be a total waste either. The films will ultimately become Peter Jackson's visions and not del Toro's, but the lessons del Toro learned in New Zealand will apply to his next film. That includes script notes from Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

"There were many, many questions that were asked or process that the screenplay was put through that was absolutely new for me," he said. "From the design point of view, I think I learned a lot from John Howe and Alan Lee, who were, in my view, new to my world, and from working with Weta. So what was beautiful was I never stopped learning."

The one thing del Toro's next movie won't be is a quick and easy paycheck. "I didn't want to do a rebound movie. I didn't want to wake up the next morning and say, 'Oh my God, what have I done?' What I was very careful with was reading stuff that I feel completely passionate about."

Actually, leaving The Hobbit allowed del Toro to return to an older idea. Now he's figured out how to make it work, if it becomes his next film. "If the one that I think will happen happens, it's something that started 15 years ago. I wanted to do it 15 years ago. We started, we couldn't do it, it went completely into a beautiful roundabout way and came back to me."

[MacGuffin]

Peter Jackson meeting with 'Hobbit' actors (exclusive)
Source: Hollywood Reporter

"The Hobbit" still has not been officially greenlighted, but director Peter Jackson is in Los Angeles this week quietly meeting with actors. The casting trip, which also included stops in New York and the U.K., underscores the progress being made on a complex series of deals to bring J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel to the big screen.

Sources say Jackson's pact with Warner Bros. to direct the two-part "Hobbit" adaptation is close to done, but the sticking point continues to be the dire financial situation at MGM, which holds half the rights to the property.

Warners, which is acting as the lead studio on the co-production, is furiously negotiating with MGM, which is being steered by a committee of creditors and financial stakeholders. Even if Warners wanted to fund the
films itself, that would require a sign-off from the somewhat rudderless MGM.

Jackson, who has been in L.A. since Saturday, is working with casting director Victoria Burrows on assembling what will likely be a large, international cast for the project.

"The Hobbit" has so far taken a bumpy road to the screen. Director Guillermo del Toro abruptly left the project in May, citing scheduling delays. Peter Jackson, who directed the megahit "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and was to serve as a producer on "Hobbit," was then recruited to direct the films. But Jackson has expressed his own concerns about timing, privately telling the studios he would not commit to the project unless the films could be fast-tracked and into theaters in 2012 and 2013.

Jackson's directing deal has not been signed but it is close, and he is proceeding like he's going to make the films. But the fate of "The Hobbit" remains very much uncertain.

[MacGuffin]

'The Hobbit' Rumored To Be Going 3D; New Zealand Government Offers To Mediate Union Spat
Source: The Playlist

Remember earlier this summer when fans cheered during the TheOneRing's Comic Con panel when they announced that the upcoming "The Hobbit" films wouldn't be in 3D? It turns out the celebrations might have been premature. According to the NY Times, as part of the behind-the-scenes dealmaking to get the film made, it looks like the 3D format is back on the table. The format has long been in discussions, with original director Guillermo Del Toro not particularly hot on the idea. However, with a pricetag of $500 million dollars, its no surprise that Warner Bros., New Line and MGM would be pushing for the format if only because it means revenues will get a slight boost thanks to inflated ticket prices. At this point we're too exhausted to care which direction they go in —Peter Jackson could make it a black-and-white 16mm silent comedy for all we care —we just want this film to finally get in front of cameras. As for the nasty union spat that unfurled last week, that saw both Peter Jackson and the studios threatening to move the production away from New Zealand, the country's government has stepped in to try and help. Government ministers are eager to help resolve the dispute, save jobs and keep the production and the economic boost it brings in the country. Prime Minister John Key said, "I would be greatly concerned if the Hobbit movies weren't made in New Zealand, this a $3 billion industry, it employs a lot of people, it's great for New Zealand, it's a great way for marketing New Zealand. If you can't make the Hobbit here frankly what movies are you going to make here?" Meetings are beginning to take place —Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly has already met with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh —and everyone involved is "hopeful" a solution will be found. Rumors circled late last week that the situation may already be close to being dealt with, as an official studio greenlight is apparently just days away. Meanwhile, "The Hobbit" as cursed sentiment gained uninspired traction this weekend when news of a fire broke out in Jackson's Portsmouth Miniatures Studio which would have been used for the two films. Considering a green light seems imminent, talk of a "curse" seems more than a little hyperbolic. These guys even went so far as to openly speculate that "union thugs" burned down the place. And while it is one of many aggravating set-backs, it doesn't at all seem like the crisis many are making it out to be.

[Sleepless]

The 3D fad will be long over by the time this ever gets made.

[Gold Trumpet]

The 3D fad will be long over by the time this ever gets made.

They are already starting look into making tv's that are 3D and require no glasses. Next it will be theater projections. I think this is just the beginning of 3D.

[MacGuffin]

Peter Jackson Directing 'The Hobbit'? TOLDJA!
By MIKE FLEMING; Deadline Hollywood
   
I saw yesterday's breathless reports that Peter Jackson is close to a deal to direct The Hobbit -- and I am bewildered how anyone slaps an "exclusive" tag on a story Deadline broke back on June 25th. That's when Jackson moved from co-writer/producer into the director's chair. Recent reports by the LA Times and NY Times have added some nice details, but I laid out back then the chain of events that are unfolding now. Even before Guillermo del Toro withdrew as director, Warner Bros and MGM had set December 2012 and December 2013 as release dates, replicating the release pattern of the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Production has to begin in January or these pictures would get pushed back an entire year -- and who knows if Jackson would have stayed? Deadline advised that MGM's creditors needed to get their heads out of their you-know-where's and either commit funding or step aside to let Warner Bros  pay for the films. It was clear those decisions would precede a long-planned prepackaged bankruptcy that won't play out until year's end.

The 3D discussion also goes back before Del Toro departed, but I can confirm a NYT report that they're locked into a 3D two-picture shoot that will cost around $500 million. Unless a third party steps in, Warner Bros most likely funds production because MGM can't. The movement on The Hobbit doesn't help James Bond, which is post-bankruptcy business. If Spyglass partners Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber close the deal and turn MGM into a stripped down production entity, they will have every studio chasing 007. While Warner Bros, Fox and especially Sony Pictures Entertainment will be players, I hear Paramount stands a good chance. Birnbaum and Barber have a great relationship there as co-financiers of Star Trek, and Paramount can certainly use the films as its distribution deal with Marvel winds to a conclusion.

The big part of The Hobbit story that interests me is how much the 3D decision spurs Warner Bros to convert the original LOTR trilogy into 3D, injecting new life and revenue cycle into the original films. I yawned at the announcement that George Lucas' six Star Wars films will convert to 3D, maybe because I found the prequel underwhelming. But the prospect of a 3D revisit to Middle Earth, the Mines of Moria, Mordor, The Shire, Lothlorien and the epic battles of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith? Yes, please.