Science Fiction World

Director Guillermo del Toro won't be going there and back again with Bilbo Baggins after all. After two years working on The Hobbit movies del Toro has made the almost unthinkable decision to walk away from what many would consider the directorial job of a lifetime. The reason? Pre-production of the two movies is well advanced, but production has still not yet been financed and while MGM, which owns the rights to the movies, remains a financial basket-case, there’s no sign that the movies will be greenlit any time soon. That's an uncertainty that del Toro simply can't live with.

This is immensely disappointing news, but you really can’t blame the man. Del Toro is a creative powerhouse and is attached to numerous projects, almost all of which are unable to progress while he works on The Hobbit movies. Although he will continue to work with Peter Jackson on the screenplays, he seems to have concluded that committing any more time as director to a project which might remain on hold indefinitely is an unproductive use of his time. On Sunday in a post on TheOneRing.Net he announced his abdication: “In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures.” In spite of the many blessings "the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director.”

Peter Jackson’s response was warm though understandably disappointed, "We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave The Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone's control, has compromised his commitment to other long term projects. The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn't feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years.”

Jackson anticipates that his team will be in discussions with New Line and Warner Bros. this week “to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for The Hobbit,” adding a little optimistically perhaps that “we do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work." Until the uncertainty surrounding financing is resolved however, I imagine there might be some difficulty getting a top notch director to commit unconditionally even to a project as desirable as this one. As for those persistent rumours that Jackson might himself take up the reins, this is apparently nothing more than a rumour. According to Deadline's Mike Fleming, Jackson's manager Ken Kamins indicated that, "Peter has, and has had, obligations and commitments to other films that would make it impossible for him to direct The Hobbit at this time...” Time will tell.

If there is a silver lining to this otherwise gloomy bit of news, del Toro is now freed up to get on with those other tantalising projects he's attached to, including Frankenstein, HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Dan Simmons’ Drood, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Slaughterhouse-Five. Even so, I can't help but hope (maybe even suspect) that del Toro's announcement is a cunning ploy to scare the financiers into action...