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Castlelake

Guillermo del Toro quits the Hobbit

Posted on 2010.05.31 at 22:46
Current Mood: frustratedfrustrated
Tags: ,
 Here's the story.  Apparently with all the delays caused by MGM being in huge debt, GdT has said he has to quit as director of The Hobbit.  He will still work on the script but can't commit to the rest of the project.  Wah!   I wonder if The Hobbit movie is just doomed. 
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Comments:

Menel
menel at 2010-06-01 18:52 (UTC) (Link)
Oh no! This is tragic! I'm at a loss for words. del Torro was the perfect fit. His visual style coupled with his keen writing sensibility was tailor-made for The Hobbit. My god, is this project ever going to get off the ground? Wah, wah.
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elfscribe5
elfscribe5 at 2010-06-01 19:12 (UTC) (Link)
I know. So sad. I was really looking forward to this movie and I did think that GdT was a good choice. Funny that this project, which on the surface is a simpler story than LOTR and you'd think easier to make a film about, has been repeatedly stalled over corporate logistics and machinations. Sigh.
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Menel
menel at 2010-06-02 15:03 (UTC) (Link)
I have so much love for Pan's Labyrinth, and even though I enjoyed The Lives of Others immensely, I was cheering for del Torro to take home that Best Foreign Film Oscar all the way. *sigh*

The Hobbit and its prequel is such a surefire moneymaker that the studios are becoming petty over the details. It's no longer the fans that they're thinking about at all, but the profits. It's more than dispiriting what the project has become. :-(
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russandol
nelyo_russandol at 2010-06-01 21:16 (UTC) (Link)
The problem is they expect it to make so much money it is not longer a normal movie (or two) but a whole industry by itself. I loved El Laberinto del Fauno, I can imagine GdT doing a great job with it. I wonder what Mirkwood they have created, what it looks like - erm, and its King, of course - and I imagine an absolutely fantastic Smaug...

Oh, well, never mind.
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elfscribe5
elfscribe5 at 2010-06-02 19:39 (UTC) (Link)
Right. The greed factor has moved in. I hope it doesn't end up wrecking the movie. Hopefully, if Peter Jackson and co. is still involved, it will still be awesome.
I was struck again the other day abut what a good job PJ did with LOTR and it was in large part that he had the overall creative vision and then was able to assemble a fantastic crew so that everything was good, the script, casting, sets, music, etc. That hit me when I was watching Robin Hood and thought how mediocre the music was for it and remembered Howard Shore's wonderful score.
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russandol
nelyo_russandol at 2010-06-02 20:59 (UTC) (Link)
I often play the LOTR complete recordings while reading or browsing, or writing. I am one for soundtrack music - Avatar is another one I like.

For me, the music and the visuals of movie!LOTR, based on Alan Lee's and John Howe's concepts, which I already loved, were what made it such a wonderful movie. Yeah, the plot went funny in some places, but I stepped into Middle-earth... The first time U watched it my jaw must have dropped to the floor!
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elfscribe5
elfscribe5 at 2010-06-02 22:41 (UTC) (Link)
my jaw must have dropped to the floor
Mine definitely did and picked up dust bunnies. lol. And yes Alan Lee and John Howe's concepts were integral to the magic.
I remember going with such trepidation too about what they would do to my beloved Tolkien and was so pleasantly surprised (despite, yes, some story changes that I didn't agree with). The fact that PJ and Philippa Boyens and Frances Walsh were such fans and really wanted to be authentic to the original made the difference. I think I actually enjoyed the movies more the second time around. The first time I was too busy comparing what I was seeing to what I had in my head.

Edited at 2010-06-02 10:41 pm (UTC)
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russandol
nelyo_russandol at 2010-06-02 22:48 (UTC) (Link)
I think I actually enjoyed the movies more the second time around.
So did I, and the third and the fourth... I have watched the movies back to back several times since then (EEs) plus one with the Orclings in very frustrating short chunks. Try explaining Sauron's Eye to a 6 year old... "why does he only have one eye on a tower?" *** giggles *** They were not afraid of Orcs or anything like that "It's only make up".
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elfscribe5
elfscribe5 at 2010-06-02 23:36 (UTC) (Link)
And yes why does he have only one eye in a tower? That is a very fair and astute question. LOL
(You have orclings?) I went to one showing of Return of the King in which a little about 7 or 8 year old sat with his daddy in the seat in front of me. The boy was wearing a cape and obviously way into LOTR. But when Shelob showed up, he totally freaked. Poor thing. He crawled up into his Dad's lap and hid his face.
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dodger_sister
dodger_sister at 2010-06-12 07:16 (UTC) (Link)
Alright, firstly, dude, read all your fics back in the LotR days - just found Menel on LJ and your name jumped out at me from a post and I was like "Shit, elfscribe, whose fics convinced me that Elven-Twin-Lovin is the greatest thing ever and that Erestor is made of sexy hotness and should always have sex with Glorfindel? Excellent."

Secondly, my sister was talking about this drama with The Hobbit and was musing on why they felt the need to make two films, but I've been hearing that they are making the prequel to The Hobbit and then The Hobbit itself to follow it. So, what's the deal with the prequel, what is going into it? Do you know? I thought maybe you do. Hopefully. Because now it's bugging me. Thanks and hi! - The Artful Dodger
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elfscribe5
elfscribe5 at 2010-06-12 07:42 (UTC) (Link)
Hiya Dodger,
Thanks for the kind words re my LOTR fics. Always nice to hear someone remembers them warmly or rather was warmed by reading them. *g*
If interested, all my completed LOTR fics can be found on LordoftheRings Fanfiction. My current WIP called Elegy for Numenor is posted on the Silmarillion Writer's Guild and also on my LJ.

As far as the Hobbit movie - well at first they were planning to make two movies, the first was an adaptation of the Hobbit and the second was going to be an original story covering the period of time between the events of the Hobbit and the Fellowship. Now, they've changed it and are splitting the Hobbit into two parts (more bucks for the bang so to speak) and they are adding scenes only briefly mentioned in the Hobbit. The first movie is supposed to include the story of the White Council forcing Sauron (the Necromancer) out of Dol Guldur. So yay, lots of good stuff to look forward to.

And when the movie comes out, maybe my fic Dragon Fever which takes place in Esgaroth after Smaug's fall will enjoy some new readers. One can hope.

Welcome to my LJ!
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dodger_sister
dodger_sister at 2010-06-13 23:19 (UTC) (Link)
Thanks for the info on your stories and the movie! I was worried about The Hobbit being two movies because I wasn't sure how they could stretch the events in the book out enough without making some stuff up for filler. But yeah, I guess, just like in LotR really, there was a ton of stuff going on elsewhere that wasn't covered in that particular story but was still happening. So that should give them enough to work with - though I kind of liked the original idea of using the events that came between The Hobbit and Fellowship.

Either way, I just hope it actually happens. I feel like I've been waiting for this thing forever.
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