Visionary director, Guillermo del Toro, announced last month that he will no longer be directing THE HOBBIT due to production delays and scheduling conflicts.
Del Toro, who devoted two years to designing and preparing for the endeavor, lamented leaving the project on the J.R.R. Tolkien fan site, TheOneRing.net, writing:
“Trust me on this, leaving [New Zealand] 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[…] has the same goal in mind: to try and ensure the best possible transition of the movie to a new director.”
Del Toro, whose films include both HELL BOYS movies, BLADE II, and PAN’S LABYRINTH, stated that he intends to remain an “ally” to the forthcoming Hobbit movies, which he will also co-write with LORD OF THE RINGS director, Peter Jackson.
Rumors are circulating that Neill Blomcamp will assume the director’s chair. The young director worked with Peter Jackson on 2009’s sci-fi thriller, DISTRICT 9.
THE HOBBIT is planned to be released as two films in December 2012 and 2013.
Read the Movieguide(R) review of the LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY:
THE TWO TOWERS
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