Guillermo del Toro Will Direct "The Hobbit"

jagermeister101 tips us to news that Peter Jackson and the Lord of the Rings production team have officially selected Guillermo del Toro to direct the upcoming Hobbit film and its sequel. del Toro's resume includes films such as Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Blade 2. This confirms rumors which began after the controversy between Jackson and New Line Cinemas was resolved last year.

Re:What's the draw?

[Mystic Pixel]

Tolkien's works have links to far older bodies of literature, such as the Finnish epic Kalevala [wikipedia.org] and Beowulf (he was often regarded as a leading expert on the latter.) Many of his writings are taken very seriously by those in the academic literary community; he had a lot to say about the 'fairy tale' as an important story-telling tool -- specifically his essay The Monsters and the Critics [wikipedia.org] (more info [sfsu.edu]).

There are serious undergraduate and graduate level literature classes on Tolkien, and his universe provides an interesting linguistic study as well. Granted, he started writing The Hobbit as a children's story, and it's not among the top tier of his work. However, the later trilogy became much more, and I daresay few literary professors would write it off as you are wont to do.

Furthermore, if you want anyone to take your viewpoint seriously, you do yourself a disservice by misspelling his name.

Re:What's the draw?

[1u3hr]

So what would say is first rate fantasy then?

I don't want to disparage JRRT. He created a whole genre, he had immense integrity. I loved his books when I was a teenager. But he wasn't a great wordsmith.

A few who have surpassed him, IMHO:

• Ursula K Le Guin
• Fritz Leiber
• Michael Moorcock
• Gene Wolfe
• Roger Zelazny

Not everything by these authors is "great" some are a bit uneven, but their best work is really "first rate" literature by any standard.

I've never gone for the doorstop fantasy trilogies that fill many bookshop fantasy shelves. Some may be good, but I never felt the urge to try them, they just looked so derivative. I doubt though I'm missing anything by bypassing Robert Jordan. I'm told that George RR Martin's is pretty good though, I liked his earlier work.

Re:Sequel to the Hobbit

[mpiktas]

Cannot agree more. I am a Tolkien fanboy, and I read practically everything what is there to read. The info about those 60 years in between is scarce. The longest passage is about Aragorn, how he met Arwen, and his serving in Gondor and Rohan. Also the banishment of Sauron from Dor Guldur by White Council. No hobbits. I dread to think what perverted imagination of Peter Jackson will come up this time.

Re:What's the draw?

[Sesticulus]

Nope, that was Blade 3. It wasn't a terrible movie in it's own right, but in the light of the first two it definitely suffered the curse of the third superhero movie. Blade 2 was pretty good as I recall.

Re:What's the draw?

[Chutulu]

yeah i agree, i would also recommend Cronos.

Re:What's the draw?

[somersault]

The Hobbit is a much better story than LOTR. Just my opinion of course - LOTR drags on and on and on and on and on* while The Hobbit is a much more intimate story (while still being on a pretty massive scale in parts)

*Though apparently I stopped reading just before it got interesting (about 20-40 pages from the end of the second book.. I just couldn't take any more geography! I'd be better able to cope these days after Operation Flashpoint improved my mapreading and visualisation skills, but I cba at this point in my life, I have much better things to read/watch/play), near the end of the second book - I don't make a habit of not finishing books, but LOTR was one that I just couldnt be bothered with as I was used to faster moving stuff like the Riftwar Saga back when I used to read a lot.

Re:What's the draw?

[xSauronx]

I've been a fan of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings since I was a child, and I also find The Hobbit more enjoyable. Tolkien goes into *a lot* of detail anyway, and i skip over a majority of things in the Lord of the Rings that are descriptive of scenery and some other things.

Re:What's the draw?

[geordieboy]

What are you talking about, exactly? I've seen both, and they're completely dissimilar. Not least because Northfork was unbelievably slow and visually drab. I like quirky art-house movies, but Northfork was just rubbish.

Re:What's the draw?

[h4rm0ny]

Hellboy was an excellent piece of work considering that it was a daft comic book adventure. Ron Perlman was great (as usual) and little details such as the rooftop conversation with the little boy changed the movie utterly from being a simplistic series of fights to something that genuinely made you laugh and get involved with the characters.

The problem with Guillermo doing The Hobbit is not that he would do a bad film - I'm sure that he will do as good an adaptation as he is allowed to do by producers and budget (though he will inevitably get slated by people who think the film should be just like the LotR films). No, the problem with Guillermo doing The Hobbit is that he wont be doing something else more unusual or unlikely. He is supposed to be getting on with an adaptation of H.P.Lovecraft's "At the Mountain's of Madness" and I personally would really like to see that. It's going to take someone of Guillermo's ability and heft to get this done properly. I'll be dissapointed if the Hobbit took its place.

Re:Adam Sandler to direct The Hobbit

[sm62704]

Link to original [uncyclopedia.org] version of this UnNews

Re:What's the draw?

[tmtm]

Another vote for Espinazo del Diablo. Great picture.

His 'Opera Prima' was another horror movie called Cronos [imdb.com]

Worth to watch. Ron Perlman is also in that one. I believe this is how their relationship started.

If they give Del Toro and Jackson some creative liberties, the Hobbit has some potential.

Cronos is written/directed by Del Toro and 'Instruments' (do not want to spoil) designed by Jose Fords. Both artist of Guadalajara, Mexico

Re:Sequel?

[Agripa]

Off the top of my head, there are a couple of ancillary stories from The Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings which could be told:

1. The activities of the White Council at Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood. Conveniently this could include Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel, Elrond, and others.

2. The dwarf Balin's attempted reopening of Moria.

3. The events and battles around Lonely Mountain before and during the Lord of the Rings.

Re:What's the draw?

[grassy_knoll]

Dude.

You have GOT to watch Blade 2 with the directors commentary on. It's hysterical! Del Toro talking about "the vampire Michael Bolton!" had me laughing like a maniac.