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It has been two years but no fruitful results yet! Despite Guillermo del Toro's passionates and efforts for these two years into setting up a perfect visionary on the world of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, it turns out that the bigger problem on the rights holder MGM is just getting very frustrating and out of hand. The Mexican director has announced his departure from helming the long awaited prequels to the Lord of the Ring.
In a joint statement with producer Peter Jackson via TheOneRing.net;
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. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but 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.
Guillermo del Toro, outgoing director of The Hobbit
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. Guillermo is one of the most remarkable creative spirits I’ve ever encountered and it has been a complete joy working with him. Guillermo’s strong vision is engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA.
Peter Jackson, producer of The Hobbit
To be frank, I know these kind of thing will eventually happen. MGM has been battling over the ownership and financial problem that has effectively caused the development of their priced jewels - Bond 23 and The Hobbit in limbo. Both are definite box office; The Lord of the Ring trilogy grossed more than USD 2.9 billion worldwide while the last Bond movie - Quantum of Solace grossed USD 580 million.
Technically, del Toro admitted that no greenlight was given yet and based on what was reported on Green Tea Movie previously, it is hard to determine if the speculated shooting date in next few months can be achieved. Meanwhile, a hunt for the new director is a must now. Although del Toro is no longer a director, he will still serves the film as co-writer with Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens, while his design input will still be vital.
We wish him all the best! And screw you MGM!!! If it is so hard for you to get it done right, sell the rights, please!!
SOURCES: TheOneRing.net, Empire Online, Latino Review