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John Hurt on the set of Hellboy with director Guillermo del Toro.
© Universal Pictures

Del Toro Directing Both HOBBIT Films

By: Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor
Date: Monday, January 28, 2008
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Guillermo del Toro has been on the rumored short list to direct the Hobbit films and apparently, it's all but confirmed now that he will be in charge alongside producer Peter Jackson. The Hollywood Reporter says that he is in talks to helm back-to-back installments of the J.R.R Tolkien novels, which will be co-financed by MGM and New Line.

Principal photography for the films, which will be shot simultaneously, is tentatively set for 2009. The production budget is estimated at $150 million per film. The release of the first film is slated for 2010 and the second in 2011.

Del Toro is wrapping up the post-production for Hellboy II:The Golden Army and has a few projects on the horizon like a new adaptation of Frankenstein and an update of the Cthulhu Mythos with the upcoming adaptation of H.P Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness.

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Comments/Responses

WISEGUY562 • Jan 28, 2008, 03:19am •

I know a lot of people will be happy if this pans out. DelToro has done some really good work in the past. I especially loved Pan's Labyrinth. His work with special effects and make up seems to make him the obvious choice. I wonder if this'll make Raimi reconsider his stance on Spierman 4.

LOTRSUXS • Jan 28, 2008, 04:17am •

Guess he won't direct the last harry potter movie then... Well, i hope alfonso cuaron comes back for the final installment then.. And i doubt sam raimi will direct another spiderman movie.. He seems bored with that franchise now

JarrodSarafin • Jan 28, 2008, 04:28am •

Same thoughts, Lotr. Del Toro has expressed interest lately in helming the seventh Potter film but if the trade is correct and he's taken on the Hobbits, then that possibility is gone..I wouldn't mind his friend Cuaron coming back either..I believe Del Toro referred him to WB when they asked him to direct PoA.

Definitely curious on why Raimi's out of the running..Last we heard, he was also on the short list for the Hobbits and was all but locked up to helm them. What's happened between then and now? Perhaps Jackson and Del Toro saw something more in common.

And I doubt Raimi goes back to Spider-Man as well, Wise, but you can bet yet another someone will ask for his stance on it.

snallygaster • Jan 28, 2008, 05:23am •

I'd definitely be game to see Del Torro direct these movies. If he gets the job, he's got a helluva a slate based on fanboy literature.

ponyboy76 • Jan 28, 2008, 05:28am •

This is good news. I was hoping Del Toro would get the job, if this is true. I know that the Hobbit isn`t as dark as LOTR but I think Guillermo really knows how to shoot the fantasy stuff really well. I`m looking forward to Hell Boy 2 and the visuals of the fantastical creatures in it.
I wonder what Raimi will do. I doubt he`ll get into any big franchise type movies again, right now.

hanso • Jan 28, 2008, 05:32am •

Well at least the films will be visually pleasing.
Raimi needs to step out of the Spider-Man franchise and Sony needs to recast the films as well.
As for Potter, it would be sweet if Alfonso Cuaron came back to direct the final installment. Prisoner of Azkaban to me is still the best film so far.

WhiteKnight • Jan 28, 2008, 06:08am •

Maybe New Line realized Rami would turn the Hobbit into a camptastic piece of trash and had a "holy shit" epiphany. Whether or not that's true, I doubt we'll ever know, but I do know I couldn't be happier that Sam is apparently out of the running. I'm not that up on Del Torro's work, but I'm of the opinion no one was a worse choie than Raimi.

As to Alfonso Cuaron, PoA was my least favorite of the Potter film's because Cuaron took way too many liberties with the source material, ergo I couldn't be any more adamantly opposed to his returning to that franchise.

Myrddin • Jan 28, 2008, 06:38am •

WK - "As to Alfonso Cuaron, PoA was my least favorite of the Potter film's because Cuaron took way too many liberties with the source material, ergo I couldn't be any more adamantly opposed to his returning to that franchise."

That's interesting because according to Rowling, he nailed it and even caught some of her subtext that hinted to the future books (at that time unpublished).

Back on topic, I'm glad Raimi is out. I wondered if he was in the front running or if he was just taking advantage of the press time from Spiderman 3 to campaign for the job. Del Toro will do a good job.

mortellan • Jan 28, 2008, 07:32am •

Thank god for Del Toro!

FrozenFear • Jan 28, 2008, 07:54am •

I say let Del Toro due the rumored two-part version of the last Potter film and get it out of the way before diving into Hobbit. I agree with the Cuaron comments in that his version was definitely different, but from what I've heard, he's been part of the driving force for cutting up the HP books to make the shortest movies possible.

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