Posted by dominie in Films, News on December 2nd, 2008
Director Guillermo del Toro talked about his upcoming The Hobbit movie during a BD-Live chat for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. So here’s what we know so far, straight from del Toro himself.
Filming for The Hobbit begins in 2010 and will shoot for somewhere in the range of 370 days.There will be a mixture of CGI/puppetry like never before. Del Toro tells BD Live, “I am going to push further than ever on both fronts… [there will be] many many more [cool creatures] and we will be pushing the Goblin Kingdom. We will be pushing Smaug, the Spiders of Mirkwood. We will be pushing them to the edge of technology where we will fuse animatronics and CGI into a seamless new art form in creating creatures, I think.”
Posted by dominie in Films, News on October 23rd, 2008
Guillermo del Toro is a busy body, producing and directing many (and some of the biggest) projects to come—including The Strain and The Hobbit to say the least. Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde however, managed to make an impression on the director’s list of priority to-do’s.
In an interview with MTV, del Toro reveals he is steadfast on adapting a new Jekyll & Hyde movie post The Hobbit films. His adaptation will remain faithful to Stevenson’s original story, while approaching the film from the counter-perspective of the monster.
“If you tell the story fully, you can not only see it as a story of repression, of the build-up of repression until it manifests itself like a monster. I think that Hyde—yes, he’s a creature of subterranean desire and all that—but it’s more than that. He’s an addiction,” explains del Toro. In this film, “Dr. Jekyll isn’t the wimpy push-over he’s so often portrayed as, but a charismatic doctor, forceful and proud—who covers up a shameful and secret life of cruelty.” (more…)
Posted by dominie in Films, News on October 8th, 2008
Guillermo del Toro’s two Hobbit sequels have been in serious talks, but everyone is still wondering what the supposed Hobbit sequel will be all about. Del Toro has been closely collaborating with friends Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, taking notes and making notes for the movie adaptation based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic talk of The Hobbit.
This week, MTV caught up with del Toro for an exclusive interview to clarify on the matter, which the director has confirmed will be just one movie, but in two parts, not two movies. According to del Toro, the first movie will be focused on the first half of The Hobbit, and the second movie will lead into The Fellowship of the Ring. What about the second half of The Hobbit? See below for del Toro’s highlights and judge for yourself.
“The reality is that we stopped talking the first movie and second movie, and we just started taking about the movie - the two episodes, or two parts, as if they were a single piece of narrative,” said del Toro.
“We don’t even call it the bridge movie, we just call it The Movie. And this is great. When we found what reverberated, and we found it in one of our virtual meetings—we understood. It’s a movie.”
“We all agree that if we do our job right, it should all feel like a continuous journey. That’s what we’re striving for,” Del Toro said. “You should see a movie that’s five pictures long. If we do our job right, you put in The Hobbit and you wind up watching the entire Pentology!”
When asked about where the end of the first episode will fall relative to the text, del Toro quipped, “We are finding out […] I think Smaug dies in the first movie. So draw your own conclusions.”
-Written by Jill Sutherland
Posted by bob in Films, News on April 25th, 2008
After months of speculation and rumor, Guillermo del Toro has been officially announced as the director of The Hobbit and its unnamed sequel. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, executive producers of the project, formally announced del Toro’s signing yesterday.
The Mexican-born director will relocate to New Zealand for the four years the two films are expected to take. He will also have a hand in the screenplay and is expected shoot the films back to back with release not expected before 2011. He will also be working for the first time with Jackson’s WETA production team on the special effects.
The first film will be a straight adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal novel while the second will fill in the sixty-year gap between that story and The Fellowship of the Ring. Much will be drawn from Tolkien’s extensive notes and appendices.
Del Toro will complete his work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army, opening July 11, and has discussed a more personal project which he may still have time for before this mammoth project get underway. As for the rumored final chapter in the Hellboy trilogy, del Toro told reporters at last weekend’s New York Comic-Con, , “If there was ever a third one, I would really make sure that we at least sign a contract that there is no more. No prequels and no sequels: nothing. If that happens, then there is a third one we have planned and the seeds are planted in this film.
“The idea for me is to bring back the Nazis characters, but bring them back in a way they would operate now. Meaning, what public face would the Nazis have in 2009/2010? How rich would they be? How in charge could they be? It’s not this group of freakies that hide in the sewers, but people that are incredibly rich.”
Obviously it’s way too early to discuss casting but Sir Ian McKellen has expressed interest in returning as Gandalf.
The announcement is the culmination of legal wrangling over rights and the dust settled four months ago with Warner Bros’ New Line Cinema division co-financing with MGM. Warner will release the films domestically while MGM handles the foreign distribution.
Director Guillermo del Toro talked about his upcoming The Hobbit movie during a BD-Live chat for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. So here’s what we know so far, straight from del Toro himself.
