Finally one of the best bits of news to come out of Hobbit land since Guillermo del Toro’s stepping down as director of The Hobbit prequels. Peter Jackson, who I had wished would have been helming this project from the beginning, has decided to take over. Neil Blomkamp was in talks to direct but Jackson has done the smart thing and stepped in and is in current discussions to get the two films into theaters for 2012 and 2013 respectively.
All I can think to say is VICTORY, I dont know if its because I have been catching up on my Entourage before the season 7 opener on Sunday or the fact that I have been thinking of the Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Pele masterpiece Victory. Either way I am ecstatic to share this news with you. I knew that this would be a great movie but now am confident that this will be an even greater film thanks to Jackson in the directors chair.
What are your thoughts?
Finally! Something good may come of this!
CMrok93 recently posted..Jerry Maguire (1996)
I agree, I do believe that this film has a good shot at greatness! I will continue to deliver more details as they become available.
I was bursting when you text me earlier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Why wasn’t he just doing it from the beginning? I thought there was some legal-something-er-other where whoever sold him the rights didn’t want him to direct?
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I’m pretty sure he just wanted a break from the franchise and the freedom to do other things. He still was planning on producing it and I believe Walsh and Boyens were on board to work on it’s screenplay. It was going to be the same collective creative ensemble with a different director, and that could be something fresh and okay as far as I’m concerned, but at the end of the day, Bilbo and crew could be in no better hands than PJ.
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I’m pretty much of the opinion that its the same timeline and the same characters (more or less). The continuity should be the same.
(suddenly, Star Wars I-III flahsed into my mind —eeeeeeeek)
FRC Ruben recently posted..Quote of the Day Happy Death Day Edition
While I don’t PJ will admit that the legal stuff got to him, there have been major leagal issues ever since the release of the last film. One of the reasons why it took so long for The Hobbit to be put in pre-production. If someone is suing you, it’s not like both sides are going to put that past them and let you make two more movies.
Red recently posted..
Yeah, he got screwed out of some cash and they should give him what ever he wants. He saved that studio and brought home an Oscar! Touche, sir!!!
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I’m glad to hear this. I was starting to lose hope in the project. Hopefully it finally gets greenlit.
Dreher Bear (…Where The Buffalo Roam) recently posted..
When I hard the news I think I finally realised why Jackson doesn’t want to do this. Many people are going to expect it to be The Lord of the Rings and few films measure up to that, so there’s always the possibility of it being a disappointment (relatively speaking). Still, I hope it does well I do like Jackson.
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People will have to expect it to be different, nothing can be like Lord of the Rings. The only similarity are the writers and now the director. The Hobbit will be as unique as its story is.
I hope they are. I’m interested to see just how different Jackson makes it (I hope it’s as different as can be). It got me thinking of the The Lovely Bones. Everyone expected some masterpiece, honestly I really liked it but the backlash was horrible and I wonder if some of the hate wasn’t because of what the expected Jackson to do…
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We know Jackson can deliver epic films with impeccable special effects and a great story. Some didn’t like his King Kong. I loved it. I’m not going to expect LOTR, but I do believe it’s going to end up a good film now.
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Walsh and Boyens really are at their best with Epic Fantasy — their lack of subtlety in dialogue works best int hat medium, and you know that they’ve read The Hobbit about 7321 times a piece since they were 5 years old. (In fact, I’m pretty sure that long ago, they consumed a paperback copy of The Hobbit and LOTR and are retroactively living in Middle Earth).
PJ can do anything he wants so long as he has the script.
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Absolutely estatic about this. PJ and company are obviously perfect for the job.
Red recently posted..
Am I the only one not happy? I love, love, love Guillermo del Toro’s work and wish he hadn’t stepped down. Although since he has I’m glad they found a suitable replacement, but I would have liked to see the Hobbit in del Toro’s hands.
Wow- I also want to comment on how much weight Peter Jackson lost…
I am not saying I would not have liked to see del Toro as director of The Hobbit but I definitely feel that Peter Jackson is the better of the two to direct the film. I mean yes, Guillermo del Toro is a good director but I have never been blown away by his work. I enjoyed Pan’s Labyrinth but was not drooling over it. I have never seen The Orphanage because I dont care for horror films. I am a huge Science Fiction and Fantasy fan and have repeatedly loved Peter Jackson’s work all the way back to Bad Taste. He has a stronger track record of delievering great films and that is exactly what The Hobbit needs right now. It is already destined for greatness because of excellent source material and now there is a great director to help solidify the greatness!
I would prefer Terry Gilliam — he’s so good with little people. But, alas, he is a jinx.
FRC Ruben recently posted..A Scanner Darkly
This will hopefully be a good thing. But Del Toro can make great fantasy adventures in two-hours, can Jackson give us the Hobbit without me having to sit through a three-hour film at the cinema. My knees can’t cope – and I’m only in my 20s!
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It’ll be 9 hours in three installments
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…or 11 hours in three installments across 12 discs when it’s released on DVD!
Dan recently posted..Top 50 Films of the 2000s
Glad to see he is going to take the reigns after all of this. It would have been odd to see someone else but himself get into the LOTR universe.
Castor recently posted..
Seems like the logical choice to direct this project. But I still feel that it would best be served under del Toro. Jackson is hit-or-miss. But good news for the franchise, I suppose.
All that hub-bub and we’re right back where we should be… these films are his babies and he should be the one directing!
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From what I understand his take-over of the two films is still being negotiated, so while this doesn’t sound official the fact that he’s in talks probably means this is a sure thing.
I’m not fond of this idea. Jackson directed the hell out of the Lord of the Rings films, but The Hobbit’s tone and atmosphere differ enormously from the somber and more precise language of Fellowship, Towers, and Return. Jackson captured the appropriate fantastical and whimsical elements of the more fairy tale typical moments of those stories, but I question whether or not he can sustain that over the course of two full films.
What really concerns me is that the script is rumored to have excised the story’s tone entirely and gone more for what Jackson achieved in Lord of the Rings, so I’m not sure if Jackson directing really matters as far as that’s concerned. In the end I was hoping to see Middle Earth through the eyes of another director; Jackson jumping behind the camera almost screams of an attempt at redemption in light of his recent failures in The Lovely Bones and King Kong, an effort to recapture the geek credit and critical good will earned in the wake of his achievements with the LotR films.
Sidney Lumet might disagree with me, but I don’t feel like that’s a good reason to direct a movie.
I share your concerns, Andrew. Personally, I think that Jackson’s non-LOTR work is about as good as any other director’s work — competent, flashes of greatness, usually flawed — a mentality that works in the fantasy world of Middle Earth. But, for tone, we have to look right at Boyens and Walsh and hope that their reverence carries over.
Let’s not forget, del Toro is not as whimsical as everyone thinks.
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But del Toro is perhaps more versatile as a filmmaker, and the fantasy elements of Pan’s Labyrinth do capture the total essence of the fairy tale perfectly. He traverses every kind of fairy tale with ease through all of the fantastical material of that story; I think that alone shows that he would have nailed The Hobbit.
I’m not totally opposed to the idea of the guy who successfully brought Middle Earth to life going back to that place, of course. But I think I might be more comfortable with him behind the curtain rather than the camera.
I don’t think the only reason he’s doing it is to recapture his magic. In fact I thought King Kong was wonderful. I’m absolutely in love with that film. I think he has a love affair with middle earth and wants to see it finished. Personally I was VERY excited at the idea of del Toro doing it for all the reasons you stated Andrew, but I’m certainly not upset at the idea of PJ taking over, as long a Boyens and Walsh have their hand in it. They’ll ground him.
Yes, with Heather I love his re imagining of King Kong (come on, he made Naomi Watts believable as a young and funny scatterbrain).
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Thank you! And am I the only one who finds her as a good pick for Marilyn Monroe??????????
Other than Andrew, yes, you may be the only one……
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I liked King Kong but boy did that movie ever need some really judicious editing. It drags; Selkirk indulges Jackson far too much. But yes, Watts is delightful, and I look forward to seeing her play Marilyn.
I guess my question is, if Jackson’s directing this because of his passion for Middle Earth (which is undeniable), why didn’t he offer to direct in the first place? Probably because he knows how grueling the process can be, but now he’s reluctantly taking the job after two years of pre-production and battles against the studio’s debt problems.
I’m sure he can turn out a good movie, but I’m not convinced he can turn out the movie that people are expecting.
Of course, none of this matters since his presence isn’t enough on its own to clear up the 4 billion dollar elephant in the room.
Andrew recently posted..Review- Toy Story 3- 2010- dir Lee Unkrich
Once Watts gets a good director, I can see her doing Marilyn…and at this point in time, who else is there?
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What about Toe Thumbs?
J/K
But, Mira Sorvino did a bang up Marilyn (with Ashely Judd as Norma Jean)
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But I think the fact that he didn’t want to direct means it’s not just redemption thing, but then the fact that I liked The Lovely Bones means I don’t think he needs redemption. I too would have preferred a different director just so that Jackson wouldn’t have been indicted for the obvious issues it will have (what film doesn’t?)
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