Well, it appears that Peter Jackson has been rejected for the direction of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." According to IGN, Universal Studios wanted a fresh perspective on the franchise. Jackson, however, will be producing the film.
Here is where the story gets good. Many of you, I'm sure, are familiar with last year's fantasy film "Pan's Labyrinth," or heard of its director, Guillermo Del Toro. You also may have seen his other films like "Devil's Backbone," "Hellboy," and "Blade II." According to IGN, Del Toro has been selected to direct, not one, but two major motion picture releases from the aforementioned author.
"The Hobbit" will be Del Toro's first work of the series and will be due out sometime in 2010. He will also be directing another film (unspecified at this time) based on the Tolkien universe.
Now I know what you may be thinking. "The guy who directed "Hellboy" and "Blade II" has been trusted with arguably one of the most acclaimed series' of our time?"
Allow me to interject.
Jog your memory a bit and think back to "Pan's Labyrinth," or even "Devil's Backbone" if you are familiar with it. What is the one thing that Del Toro excels at? Blurring the line between fantasy and reality. "Pans Labyrinth" was a extraordinary film, for sure, but what if those short and sweet snippets of the fantastic spanned a two and a half hour epic?
The possibilities are endless.
Get excited and keep updated on what could shape up to be one of my most anticipated films of 2010.
*Update: Apparently, as I was writing this blog, news has broken that Del Toro has not been "officially" signed onto the Hobbit project. Negotiations are still underway, but the director seems enthused about directing the film (IMDB). Stay tuned for more updates.
(Picture taken from www.wicknet.org)
