GDT Finally CONFIRMED for The Hobbit

TheIrishGrover

I know we all hoped and assumed he was going to do it with it all but confirmed over the last couple of months but now it's confirmed. I can't bloody wait. If Jackson wasn't going to direct it then GDT's the best choice IMO:

From Empire:
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=22440

It's confirmed, we mean it this time. Guillermo del Toro, New Line, MGM, Peter Jackson and all other interested parties have definitely, finally made a deal, and Empire's favourite Mexican will soon be heading to New Zealand for four years to make two back-to-back Hobbit movies.

The announcement of perhaps the world's worst-kept secret comes after months of the principals discussing the idea in public, leaking information and generally paving the way for today's news. Now it's confirmed that Del Toro will be moving to NZ after he finishes work on Hellboy 2, and expects to be there for about four years. That means we're looking at release dates in 2011 and 2012, assuming shooting starts next year, for The Hobbit and an in-between-quel set in the 77-odd years that pass between that story and The Lord of the Rings.

The films don't have a definite planned start date yet, nor a script, although it's expected that Jackson and his Lord of the Rings collaborators Phillippa Boyens and Fran Walsh will be involved in that. It is confirmed, however (again surprisingly precisely no one) that Weta will be involved, and that New Zealand will once again be doubling for Middle Earth.

Expect the casting rumour mill to start churning any minute, but for a few moments at least, let's enjoy the knowledge that The Hobbit is definitely happening and leave it at that.

MrGump

From Movies.ie

Guillermo del Toro has revealed that he will direct ‘Saturn and the End of Days’, a horror fantasy about the end of the world.

Speaking at the New York Comic Con, del Toro called Saturn his "final little movie about childhood and horror". He explained: "It’s about a kid named Saturn watching the Rapture and the Apocalypse while on the way back and forth from the grocery store. It’s like, what would happen if the Apocalypse was viewed by you [while] doing errands. You go back and forth and nothing big happens except the entire world is being sucked into a vortex of fire."

Del Toro's ‘The Devil's Backbone’ and ‘Pan's Labyrinth’ featured child protagonists and merged the fantasy and horror genres.

I was really looking forward to this. I wonder will it be canceled, delayed or what? Still, for the hobbit, it's certainly good news.

Malice

I just saw the headline myself on another site. I'm delighted!

lodgepole

I'm yet to be convinced. He's made both good and bad films, but i'm not sure he's suited to making a straight up kids movie, which is what The Hobbit should be.

That said, I was incredibly excited about Peter Jackson directing Lord of the Rings all those years ago when other people weren't so it's entirely possible i'm wrong in not being confident in Del Toro's abilities to make a really great Hobbit movie.

Pigman II

GDT doing it eh? Well I won't be watching that then.

I guess that makes me possibly the only person who's bought the LOTR extended trilogy who will still purposely avoid this movie.

Karl Hungus

No surprises really, but it's nice to see Guillermo del Toro being officially confirmed, he really is one of the best directors working today, and no doubt The Hobbit will be fantastic. I've no concerns whether he's going to be able to pull off a kids film or not, considering Peter Jackson is still producing, it should match the LotR films nicely. Lets not forget that a lot of people had reservations about Jackson, considering the film he was most famous for before the trilogy was Braindead.

lodgepole

The Hobbit is a kids book, The Lord of the Rings is a teenagers book. That's a subtle distinction, but a distinction none the less. I'd like to see that distinction in the production of the film. I realise you're confident in his abilities to tackle the film, but for me I can't look past rubbish like Blade 2, Mimic and Hellboy* just because he also made Cronos, Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth.

And it was Heavenly Creatures, Forgotten Silver and The Frighteners that got Jackson the LOTR gig, not his previous three lower budget films.

But like I said, people were throwing around these opinions about Jackson when he signed on (and after the first image of Aragorn and Arwen on the bridge) so I could be very wrong. I hope I am, because of my love of the novel.


* although Hellboy 2 looks better

Karl Hungus

Lodgepole wrote: »

The Hobbit is a kids book, The Lord of the Rings is a teenagers book. That's a subtle distinction, but a distinction none the less. I'd like to see that distinction in the production of the film. I realise you're confident in his abilities to tackle the film, but for me I can't look past rubbish like Blade 2, Mimic and Hellboy* just because he also made Cronos, Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth.

I do see where you're coming from, you're concerned they might make The Hobbit a more adult tale, when it simply isn't.

Now, it's evident you wouldn't be a fan of Hellboy, but it's an excellent example of how del Toro is a good choice for the Hobbit. I've been a fan of the comic books, and I can honestly say that Hellboy was about as perfect an adaptation as you could get, it really captured what made the comics work so well. Del Toro was a huge fan, and did the subject matter great justice, even if it didn't go down too well with mainstream audiences.

I'm sure he's more than capable of giving the Hobbit the same kind of attention that it deserves.

Lodgepole wrote: »

And it was Heavenly Creatures, Forgotten Silver and The Frighteners that got Jackson the LOTR gig, not his previous three lower budget films.

Didn't say Braindead got him the LotR gig, I said it was the film he was most famous for. Quite a difference there.

lodgepole

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Now, it's evident you wouldn't be a fan of Hellboy, but it's an excellent example of how del Toro is a good choice for the Hobbit. I've been a fan of the comic books, and I can honestly say that Hellboy was about as perfect an adaptation as you could get, it really captured what made the comics work so well.

I had that very conversation with a housemate a couple of nights ago, but with a different starting point... That one of the key reasons the film was so bad (in our opinions) was that the comic wasn't that hot to begin with. I'd be in two minds about what makes a perfect adaptation, and it's quite dependant on the film and the source. For The Hobbit of course i'd want him to stick quite closely to the book, but not at the expense of creating a film and certainly not at the expense of alienating anybody who isn't familiar with the source.

I am glad they got a distinctive director on board though, there'd be nothing more painful than a Stephen Sommers* type coming in and painting by numbers. I suppose i'd prefer a glorious failure than an average Hobbit.

* although I did love Van Helsing...

(sorry, this is lodgepole, i'm in the process of figuring out how to delete my old account since it wouldn't let me change the email address to my current one and the old one is dead...)

TheIrishGrover

aidanpower wrote: »

* although I did love Van Helsing...

Think this should call for in immediate ban and disregard for any opinions made about anything ever......end ever :eek:
Just kidding man

lodgepole

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Think this should call for in immediate ban and disregard for any opinions made about anything ever......end ever :eek:
Just kidding man

I should clarify that I went to see it during my year of Dolph Lundgren, when myself and a friend attempted to watch all of his films. We had a strict video store policy that if we found a Lundgren movie that we hadn't seen we had to rent it. We then had a hierarchy of action stars that we would work through. So you could say the bar had been lowered all the way down when I finally got to Van Helsing. Way off topic.

Karl Hungus

aidanpower wrote: »

I had that very conversation with a housemate a couple of nights ago, but with a different starting point... That one of the key reasons the film was so bad (in our opinions) was that the comic wasn't that hot to begin with.

I find most people either love or hate Hellboy, there's a certain pulpish quality to the stories, being hugely influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, and there's a certain quirky sense of humour too. It's just a very off-beat kinda mix, and I loved it in both comic and film form. And for that matter, the animated Hellboy features.

Creature

Good news IMO. I love his use of effects in his films, should translate well to The Hobbit.

LeoGilly

Heard on another site that ian mckellen and andy serkis have both signed up.

MooseJam

I hope they work leonard Nimoy into this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04

Eirebear

Im a big fan of GDT, yes he has done a couple of bad films in Mimic (a film which he himself wasnt happy with even during production) and Cronos (a great idea, mess of a film though IMO) and Blade 2.

But he has done some pretty amazing work too.

TBH im not a massive fan of the LOTR trilogy, too many missed parts of the books for my liking, and all the "extended" nonsense just puts me off it even more.

But i dont have the same affinity to the Hobbit in book form as i do with LOTR, add one of my favourite directors into the mix, and the feeling that with Jackson still involved he will want to top LOTR for wow factor and i think we could be onto a winner.