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Guillermo del Toro Will Direct "The Hobbit"

Posted by Soulskill on from the passing-the-reins dept.

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.

3 of 472 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Phew by macshit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Absolutely... Guillermo del Toro is an excellent director, and Pan's Labyrinth made it very clear he knows how to do fantasy justice (Pan's Labyrinth was one of the best fantasy pictures in a long time).

    I think del Toro is arguably a better director than for the Hobbit than Peter Jackson actually -- Jackson sort of had the "epic scope" thing of the LotR down pretty well, but the Hobbit is smaller, more intimate, and more whimsical story, and could do with del Toro's deft touch.

    I had sort of given up hope for the Hobbit with all the crap going on, but now I'm psyched!

    --
    We live, as we dream -- alone....
  2. Re:What's the draw? by LarsWestergren · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If it's anything like Pan's Labyrinth, it'll be worth watching -- del Toro isn't bad.

    Seconded... I can also recommend Espinazo del Diablo (the Devil's Backbone). Don't read about the plot beforehand, that will spoil too much. Just watch it.

    --

    Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die

  3. ... but can he do "delightful"? by Selanit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was very impressed with his work on Pan's Labyrinth, too.

    I do have one reservation, though. Del Toro is primarily known as a director of horror films. The vast majority of his work is pretty seriously dark and violent. There are definitely some dark moments and some scary/violent scenes in The Hobbit (such as: the troll attack, riddles in the dark with Gollum, spiders in Mirkwood, and of course the Battle of Five Armies). But there are also a lot of light, delightful scenes (such as: songs in Rivendell, lunch with Beorn, seeing butterflies above Mirkwood, the kindly reception at Lake Town, and so on).

    I may be going out on a limb here, but the overall tone of the book slants more towards "delightful" than "scary". Del Toro has amply demonstrated that he can do "scary". But can he do "delightful" just as well? If he can, we're in for a treat. If not, well, who knows what it'll be like? I'll definitely be interested to see what he comes up with; I just hope he does justice to the pleasant stuff as much as the unpleasant stuff.