Guillermo del Toro Drops Out as Director of The Hobbit
Posted 05.31.10 by BrentJS
Only days ago, director Guillermo del Toro dropped the bad news that The Hobbit, the planned two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was still "not greenlit" and that it was "in a very tangled negotiation" with MGM, which holds "a considerable portion of the rights." Now, del Toro has delivered even worse news for Lord of the Rings (LOTR) fans. In a statement released to the popular LOTR fansite, TheOneRing.net, del Toro announced that he was dropping out as director of The Hobbit.
In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing, and designing a world as rich as [creator J.R.R.] Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter [Jackson, producer], Fran [Walsh, screenwriter] and [screenwriter] Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I've been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director.
Jackson released an accompanying statement explaining the time pressures that del Toro was placed under and offering up the good news that del Toro would still be aboard as co-writer.
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 engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA.
Guillermo is co-writing the Hobbit screenplays with Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, and myself, and happily our writing partnership will continue for several more months, until the scripts are fine tuned and polished. New Line and Warner Bros will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for The Hobbit. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work.
Plans are for the two The Hobbit movies to be filmed concurrently and then released in December 2012 and December 2013.