April 28, 2008 11:04
Guillermo del Toro Is Really Directing the Hobbit Movies Really
He is. Or didn't we know this already? I guess it wasn't official before. And it is now.
Good news, right? In a way it would have been cool to have Jackson do the whole series -- there would have been that consistency in tone throughout all the movies. But spending that much time in Jackson's head was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic. I'm ready to see Middle Earth through somebody else's eyes. I don't actually know that much about del Toro -- I saw Hellboy but not Pan's Labyrinth (except that scene with some guy with eyes on his hands, which was cool) -- but everybody seems to think he's a visual whiz. And you know, everybody is always right.
And Jackson will provide a steadying presence, consulting on special effects and (presumably) collaborating on the screenplay. In the past I've gotten frustrated with Jackson -- I don't always feel that his visual brilliance is matched by a deep, fluid understanding of character. But the other day I stumbled on footage from Jackson's King Kong on cable, a movie I actually never ended up seeing when it came out, partly because everybody said it was kinda not-so-great, and I was reminded of what makes Jackson a genius. Dude does know his way around some digital effects. And there's something about the greens in his movies -- everything is so lush and verdant.
The real question mark is that second Hobbit movie. God knows why they think it's a good idea to create a bridge-movie to connect The Hobbit with The Fellowship of the Ring. I mean, Tolkien was fine with there being a gap. What-all happens in those 60 years anyway? Bilbo is big-pimping with all his dragon-treasure, and that's about it, right? I picture some kind of all-hobbit Desperate Housewives-in-the-Shire scenario.
About Nerd World
Lev Grossman
Lev Grossman blogs about anything and everything that could be plausibly labeled geeky--science fiction, fantasy, video games, comic books, tech stuff, and so on. If it could get you beaten up in junior high, it's fair game. About the Author
Matt Selman
Matt Selman has worked on eleven seasons and over two hundred episodes of The Simpsons. He currently serves as an Executive Producer. About the Author
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Reader Comments (7)
Lev, you really should check out Pan's Labyrinth - if you have any doubts about del Toro as a storyteller (let alone a visual artist), they'll be gone well before the credits roll.
Posted by jeffk
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April 28, 2008 12:03 PM
I agree with Jeff: Pan's Labyrinth was fantastic. Definitely not a film for the masses, but really a compelling story with effects used cleverly and not just for the sake of using effects. I think you would enjoy it.
I could see the darker parts of The Hobbit coming to light under his direction, which might be sort of nice.
I also agree with Lev: wtf is with the extra movie? Sometimes supplemental works just aren't that necessary for understanding an existing series. I doubt anyone had a burning desire for more than the first chapter of LOTR gives us. The edge-of-your-seat third act can be all about Frodo moving in. Oooh, he brought a wagon load of clothes with him. Ahh the drama.
Posted by Meredith | April 28, 2008 3:36 PM
Hell yeah. *High fives empty air, because nobody else in the office is nerdy enough to care.*
Posted by Cliff | April 28, 2008 6:53 PM
Pan was stunning, beautiful.
I was looking forward to PJ directing Hobbit then saw KK which (aside from Andy Serkis as Kong and the occasional homage to the original movie) was "ok" (emphasis on lower case "ok.") It seemed overly big on the yuck factor for my taste. Effects were awesome, backdrop/scenery terrific.
I will certainly be lining up with the zillion other JRRT fans to see ANY version of the Hobbit -- even Tolkien kept morphing his vision -- read the Annotated Hobbit at some point to see what I mean.
Posted by BobbieC | April 29, 2008 12:52 PM
I hate to be the nerd that's like "well, actually a bridge movie would be helpful", but if the shoe fits....
In the Silmarillion (Tolkein's history book of middle-earth) there is some (not a lot, about 20 pages) detailing what happened in between the books. This is mostly related to the return of Sauron. There's potential for some very cool cinematic storytelling concerning his hiding place in Mirkwood and the White Council's (Gandalf, Galadriel, Cirdan, Radagast [a new character for the film perhaps], Elrond and the traitor Saruman) efforts to destroy him.
Essentially though, unless they're splitting the Hobbit into two movies, they are creating a story that really has never been published by Tolkein.
Posted by rpbrown | April 29, 2008 1:05 PM
Isn't Guillermo the parking lot attendant from Jimmy Kimmel's show?
Posted by Dave | April 29, 2008 4:27 PM
Del Toro is the top-of-mind best choice for this project. I'm psyched.
FWIW, other possible "bridge" movie narrative: Gollum starts hunting for Bilbo; Aragorn starts coming to terms with his fate; the Dwarves of Moria let the mining get a bit out of hand. But I'd just as soon do without, too. Less is more.
Posted by JeffH | April 29, 2008 10:27 PM