The Hobbit

[_____V_____]

April 24, 2008


Director Guillermo del Toro is a man of his word. Just this past weekend, he announced during an exclusive interview at New York Comic-Con that within five days there would be an official announcement — one way or another — as to his involvement with the feature film adaptation of The Hobbit.

And that time has come.

Variety is reporting that the director has now been signed to helm both The Hobbit and it's sequel — a film meant to seamlessly bridge the 60-year gap between the aforementioned movie and The Fellowship of the Ring.

Upon completion of his current project — Hellboy II: The Golden Army — del Toro will be moving to New Zealand for four years, where he will oversee production of the two films with Executive Producer Peter Jackson, as well as creature and effects house WETA Workshop. He will follow Jackson's filmmaking model and shoot both movies back-to-back.

[Vodstok]

SWEET!


Could not have wound up in better hands :)

[The_Return]

Nice...I'm quite looking forward to this.

[neverending]

Me too- he may actually put the Tolkein back in the script.

[_____V_____]

Not all of the characters from Peter Jackson’s original “Lords of the Rings” trilogy feature in “The Hobbit,” but with a second, transitional film that takes place in the years between the two novels, there’s a big chance we will indeed see the return of Frodo and friends.

“Hobbit” director Guillermo Del Toro said he would love to bring back Elijah Wood, Sean Astin and so on, for that second film, to reprise their roles from the original trio of films.

“I want to be very clear about this. I am not going to recast any actor that is willing and able to work with us,” Del Toro told MTV News. “It would be my hope to bring back the same actors to play the parts. The casting on the trilogy was perfect.”

The first film, “The Hobbit” won’t feature many of the characters that we saw in “Lord of the Rings” because it’s set some fifty years before the events of that series.

The main star of it will likely be Ian Holm, reprising his role as Bilbo. Or will he?

‘’[Holm] certainly is the paragon we aspire to. He will be involved in some manner, I'm sure. But at his age ... it's too early to tell”, Del Toro tells MTV. “We are just in the early stages. It's too early to make commitments of that sort. We prefer to let the screenplay and the way the character comes to life guide us in the casting. I have many people in mind. Anything [else] I say will be used against me in a court of law’’.

Del Toro recently announced he had been talking to Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis about reprising their roles as Gandalf and Gollum, respectively, for the film. Looks like one of those guys is definitely on board.

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Director Guillermo del Toro recently revealed that Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen might return for The Hobbit, and now the actor himself has confirmed that he'll reprise his role as the wizard Gandalf for the prequel.

"Yes, it's true," McKellen informed Empire Online. "I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that [Lord of the Rings director] Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it's not a part that you turn down. I loved playing Gandalf."

The Oscar nominee also spoke about del Toro's plans to shoot not only The Hobbit, but also a second film inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. "Well I've read The Hobbit so I've got a good idea of what the story would be," the actor said.

McKellen continued, "But as to how it's going to work over two films and what's going to happen on screen, well Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yet – I can tell you it's going to be amazing though."

Del Toro will start writing the script for The Hobbit in the next six weeks.

[Rayne]

I know it's not horror

But...This is one that I will HAVE to own

I loved The Hobbit when I was little

And it's Del Toro...So...Yeah

[Papillon Noir]

This is such great news! :)

[colubrid660]

Good news, I like Del Toro.

McKellen is involved, which is good too. I just hope Ian Hom, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis reprise their roles as well.

[The_Return]

Originally Posted by Rayne

I know it's not horror

But...This is one that I will HAVE to own

I loved The Hobbit when I was little

And it's Del Toro...So...Yeah

Just curiosity - have you seen the Lord of the Rigs movies?