Guillermo Del Toro has announced that he is no longer directing the two films based on JRR Tolkien’s THE HOBBIT, but will continue to develop and write the screenplays.
The move comes courtesy of the ongoing legal battles and financial problems with MGM. With no set date for shooting to begin, Del Toro was forced to step down due to mounting conflicting schedules and commitments.
The project has been in pre-production for nearly two years, and the first film is still slated for a December 2012 release.
Is this a disaster? Well, far-be-it for this blogger to question Peter Jackson’s No. 1 choice to helm these films, but I was never 100% convinced that Del Toro was the right guy for the job. He’s made some fantastic-looking films when he’s let off of the leash, but how would he perform when set inside the boundaries of Jackson’s beloved Middle-earth? With Jackson holding the producing duties, chances are things would have been fine. I just didn’t want to see some creature in Hobbiton with eyeballs in all the wrong places.
In a positive light, this may clear the way for Jackson to take the director’s chair after all. But the real concern here is that if these legal and financial issues of MGM’s don’t get resolved soon, other major participants of the project may wind up bailing out too. Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), just to name a few.
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