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Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro Writing Hobbit Themselves
August 20, 2008
Source: TheOneRing.net
by Alex Billington
Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro have officially announced that they're writing The Hobbit and its follow-up themselves. I never thought so much buzz could come from an announcement about writing, but that's what happens when it's The Hobbit! The news first hit on TheOneRing.net, where Guillermo confirmed that writing had begun on Hobbit. Additionally, reports from Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news and added that they originally had been searching for a writer to tackle the monumental task, but decided that there was no one better suited for the job than they are. Joining the two will be Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who wrote the screenplays for the first three Lord of the Rings with Jackson.
When the announcement about The Hobbit was first made last year, Peter Jackson had said that he would not be writing any of the Hobbit movies due to other commitments. However, three factors caused them to reconsider and in the end decide to write the films on their own. 1) The filmmakers saw their schedules open up, 2) During the general discussions about the films, they realized how much affection they had for the material, and 3) They also realized that in order to make the release dates, the process required people intimate with Tolkien's world of Middle Earth. Thus they decided to team up again with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens to write the scripts themselves, which is definitely a good move.
There's not a single thing to be worried about here, given it was Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens who wrote the screenplays for all three Lord of the Rings. And Guillermo is an accomplished writer as well, so if anything, this is reassuring that they decided not to risk letting someone else mess up the adaptation instead. Both Hobbit films will still be shot simultaneously, with filming tentatively set to start in late 2009. The first film is expected to arrive sometime in 2011, so get ready for one hell of a triumphant return. Although I was really let down by Guillermo del Toro on Hellboy II, I'm still confident that he's the right choice for The Hobbit and I'm already anticipating the return of one of my favorite stories.
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Reader Feedback - 37 Comments »
1
great news, very happy to hear it
Keith on Aug 20, 2008
2
Good news
Shige on Aug 20, 2008
3
My only fear:
I was also dissapointed with Hellboy 2. In my opinion it lacked the very essence of what Hellboy was. Hellboy was balanced and pure enjoyment, I never tire of watching or having it in the background while i'm planning to take over the world.
I wasn't very impressed with Pans either. It was creative and fantasical but like Hellboy 2 it was too much. Too much creativity in my opinion drowned the rest of the film.
I hope that The Hobbit follows the detail that The Lord of the Rings had and adds some of the freshness the Guillermo has in his films. I just hope that it tells Bilbos story rather than just another personal goal for Guillermo.
I will say this, I am excited to see what they can do together.
Darren on Aug 20, 2008
4
GDT is very overrated, all the recent hype from net fanboys suggest his films should be awesome etc, but they tend to disappoint. The Hobbit needs to be more Peter Jackson than GDT to stand any chance of being the great film the source material deserves.
chrisUK on Aug 20, 2008
5
Completely agree chrisUK. Del Toro's films don't get a lot of love from me. I'm just hoping he does the right thing with this film and keeps it close to Jackson's formula.. Which ironically doesn't adhere to the original novels all that well anyway, but they were still a blast.
Brad on Aug 20, 2008
6
Just let Jackson direct. Why fuck it up with someone else
REAL6 on Aug 20, 2008
7
Hellboy 2 was a big pile of shit! Pans was ok…
But this is going to happen so let's hope for the best
bltzie on Aug 20, 2008
8
Yeah HELLBOY II SUCKED. and as far as Guillermo goes i dont have any faith that it will turn out half as good as the L.O.R. trilogy. Special effects wise all of his stuff looks the same, Pans labrynth to hell boy, it all loked the same. The creatures have the same style and thats cool but they look like foamed latex.
I just hope and pary to god that The Hobbit is taken in the same direction that the L.O.R. Series was taken.
I love The G Del toro films but as of late ive been let down majorly!!!!!
THERBLIG on Aug 20, 2008
9
Pans Labyrinth was only okay? I think some people need to lay off on the ganj. I agree Hellboy II was over hyped, but come on Pans was something that was completely unique, vivid and haunting.
Kyle A. Koyote on Aug 20, 2008
10
finally some results! thanx for the info
curtfrmcali on Aug 20, 2008
11
I'll go against the grain and state that The Lord of the Rings trilogy were the most overrated films in movie history. Overlong, hollow and fairly boring!
entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com on Aug 20, 2008
12
in my humble opinion, pans was a film that promised more than it delivered, and i think alot of people got caught up in the hype and it became *the* cool film for all the fans\geeks\critics to fall in love with when in fact if it had just been another generic movie that popped up, they wouldn't have raved about it so much.
Kind of like every film school student has to have watched and loved Donnie Darko to be considered credible 
chrisUK on Aug 20, 2008
13
I really dont see what all the fuss is about. I dont think it will be all that.
JD
http://www.decrypt.net.tc
Jim Dawson on Aug 20, 2008
14
I am completely overjoyed. There is absolutely no on in the world I would rather have do this. I'm just going to clear up every single day i have in 2011…. just to be sure…. wonder if they are taking ticket reservations???
Jason on Aug 20, 2008
15
NOOOOOOO!!!! If Peter Jackson is involved the movie will be three and a half hours long! Oh, wait I won't watch the POS anyway because both filmmakers suck. Is it me or does anyone else think that the Oscar to PJ was BS? One word sums up how I feel about it: Kubrick. If you have an ounce of film knowledge you know where I'm coming from. If you like PJ than I already know about your film knowledge…and congrats for going to every F-ing sequel that comes out.
Chico Marx on Aug 20, 2008
16
I don't even like the JRR Tolkien series at all, but PJ did an amazing job at the movies and I hope that he directs more and more fantasy-book movies (George RR Martin!).
So, I'm sorry that I have horrible "film knowledge" Chico, but I (and apparently an overwhelming amount of us) enjoyed his films. We're so daft, and it's so cool and trendy to be a film nazi.
Mike on Aug 20, 2008
17
Hellboy 2 was better than Batman- you're nuts
BT on Aug 20, 2008
18
"3 films of walking. Even the fucking trees walked…" - Randel, Clerks II. So, you liked Bad Taste, Dead Alive, and The Frighteners? I am sure the vast majority of people loved those films too. Oh, wait none were sequels or remakes. So, you've never seen them. Right…You see Mike, I only ask that people don't praise shitty films. It is like any Tarintino film. People love them - however, they don't look at who he plagiarized to get the material. Oh wait, the real trend is to be a functionally retarded film-goer that loves to see Triple-B movies. (I'll explain because you're retarded: Blood, Bullets, and Babes). I.E. Micheal Bay.
Chico Marx on Aug 20, 2008
19
Ha! I'm not retarded like Mikey. But, I loved the LOTR. Can't wait to see Hobbit!
Cliff on Aug 20, 2008
20
Who is Donnie Darko?
Andy Sidaris on Aug 20, 2008
21
fantastic. I loves the hobbitsis. I loves thems. 2011?!!! Too long to wait for the precious to return! Too long! ME Wants the precious! Brings IT BACK FASTER!
britdog on Aug 20, 2008
22
for great, somewhat overlooked, Del Toro work, check out the relatively recent film 'The Orphanage' (without the last three minutes, but I'm sure some feel they were needed)
teebie on Aug 20, 2008
23
Ummm…I can see that Del Toro is a bit above this audience. Do continue vehemently disagreeing with the likes of the new yorker and the london times though. Please.
The best quote from the above comments is "too much creativity in my opinion drowned the rest of the film". Too much creativity? How old are you kids? Shouldn't you be in school?
yttrx on Aug 20, 2008
24
I love how everyone and there mother is a credible movie critic now. Jackson created the film dipiction of Middle earth and either you like it or you dont… if you like your probably excited about this annoucnemnt and the upcoming film. If you didn't why be in a comment thread about it. I just dont get why people get so wrapped up in this whole, I know everything about movies. Lets see. how many nominations and awards did Peter Jackson get… ? but im sure he doesnt know how to make a movie right? Neither here nor there right?
Popo bumbleroot on Aug 20, 2008
25
Film Nazis are slowly taking over the world.
I think PJ and JDR will do amazing jobs on it. Fan of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, loved Hellboy 2. Loved all three LotR movies, and read the books. I haven't read the Hobbit, so hopefully the movie will spark my interest to read it.
Oh and Clerks 2 was hilarious.
JDanho on Aug 20, 2008
26
To #24 Popo…
thank you for saving me from having to write that because I was just about to haha
I'm glad there are some of us on here that use our 'movie knowledge' for more mature things than just a pissing contest.
daniel on Aug 20, 2008
27
have to agree #12
pans was one of my all dissapointments, anyway what will happen now is old pj will pull the strings and manage some floppy fx work if it doesnt do well he can blame the other guy, it wont do well sorry.
bassbin on Aug 20, 2008
28
Lord of the Rings was a great movie trilogy, one of my favorites. But I was disappointed in how much it broke the LotR canon, how it merged characters, moved lines from characters and situations, and mostly how they added in their own scenes at the expense of others.
The Two Towers is my biggest complaint, it's also my favorite book of the 3. The whole scene when they're travelling to Helm's Deep and the warg pack attacks. Aragorn falls off a cliff, there's a flashback, and he makes his way back to Helm's Deep. It was all made up by Jackson & Co, and it was 20 to 30 minutes of film that could have been devoted elsewhere, something that actually appeared in the books and had relevance to the story.
Mat on Aug 20, 2008
29
This is going to be great…
Rob on Aug 20, 2008
30
"Too much creativity in my opinion drowned the rest of the film."
Seriously? Since when is "too much creativity" a bad thing? It's exactly what the movie industry needs nowdays when all they seems to be able to produce are adaptations of comic books, novels and/or TV shows or remakes of older movies. I'm not saying that they're bad (I'm a huge LOTR fan and can't wait to see what "The Hobbit" turns out), but sometimes it almost seems as if there's a lack of original and creative work out there. Enter Guillermo Del Toro with "Pan's Laberynth"….it was something so uniquely refreshing and beautifully done. I agree that maybe "Hellboy II" was a bit overrated, but "Pan's Laberynth" cannot be called disappointing. That being said, I'm excited to see how he and Peter Jackson will bring "The Hobbit" to the screen and I'm sure that they won't disappoint.
Hazel on Aug 20, 2008
31
why aint this a bad thing?
he f*cked LotR also. If you read the book and loved the book dearly, u can't convince thought LotR was a real good book-movie translation, because it wasn't.
I'm also reluctant to go see this movie. At first I was glad to see Guillermo Del Toro on the team, but I'm sceptical. So I hope they translate this book to a good movie. Not sure why though.
I allways thought The Hobbit could be more easily translated into a movie then LotR series.
SD on Aug 21, 2008
32
I love the fact that Peter Jackson will help write it.
But…
The Hobbit better be exacly like Lord of the Rings and nothing like Hellboy 2 and Pan's Laberynth.
Jackson should be the be all, end all to go to for this movie. It should be completly his baby. He poured his life into LotR…he could do the same to The Hobbit and would be immortalized as the awesome filmmaker he is.
Jeep-Fu on Aug 21, 2008
34
Hobbits! wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
angryKid on Aug 21, 2008
35
I'm pretty excited for this pair up, jackson proved himself in the tolkien world with the trilogy and gdt has some great works under his belt. I can't see why the majority of the posts bash del toro, pan's labrynth was both dark and fresh but still stylized and visually impressive. admittedly, hellboy 2 was not as good as the first, but it was still entertaining — he wasn't going for a miracle of a movie. it was meant to be like reading the comic book, oversaturated in monster action and topped with a few slices of cheese.
I guess i'm hoping to see gdt's ability to apply the tone and context of the original work in the hobbit. I wasn't thrilled at first to hear that it would be two movies, but this does give the ability to bleed from gdt's take on the story into jackson's trilogy, and i'm guessing that's what they'll attempt to do with the second, instead of just gluing the stories together.
SD i don't know why you think jackson did a bad job with the LOTR adaptation, I think he did a fantastic job. verbatim story telling isn't an art, it's instructions. tolkien didn't write the screenplay, he wrote the book, which is much different. Yes, jackson changed plenty of the story and dropped a few characters/roles, but the story-the epic-the meaning, it was all there with the added bonus of jackson's take on the world. honestly the story itself is hard enough to believe sensible WITHOUT tom bombadil's role.
barfhead on Aug 21, 2008
36
Rumor has it that the team plan on turning The Hobbit into 2 films. Wonder which part they'll break at? Arrival at the elves' lodge, maybe?
yourfairygodmother on Aug 21, 2008