And directing The Hobbit...perhaps!?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Dunno who this Del Toro fella is...

. . . . Plesase Mr. director, give it a wonderous fairy-tale feel instead of the realism of the trilogy.

As Boro posted earlier on this thread, Guillermo Del Torro directed the award winning Pan's Labyrinth. It is a spectacularly done dark modern fantasy.

[Sauron the White]

Just my two cents here.... I do think that Hollywood studios want to make money. That is their highest goal. Being a business, that should not come as a shock to anyone out there. All businesses want to make money, especially those with stockholders who they must answer to. They also want to make some good films that get them critical praise and awards. They would like the Triple Crown of all three if possible. That is what they had with the three LOTR films and that is what they want with the next two.

There are no wide-eyed virgins in the multi billion dollar business world. Harper-Collins and Houghton Mifflin are no different. They have a bottom line and have an eye to it at all times. Why else would they release a story that has been on my shelf for many years now and have the gall to advertise it as a new book? The name of the game is money money money. And anyone who thinks differently is denying reality.

[davem]

Well, Del Toro is a very successful & highly accomplished director - far more accomplished than Jackson, who could never have produced a work as complex, subtle & moving as Pan's Labyrinth. GDT has made commercially successful, populist movies (Hellboy) as well, so its hardly a case of a director only known so far for art movies. Del Toro's Middle-earth could well be far superior to Jackson's. What we're being offered at the moment seems to be simply more of the same - two more movies which are carbon copies of the Rings trilogy. And as I said, a Hobbit movie that simply reproduces the look & feel of the LotR films may draw in an audience on the strength of those movies, but would anyone really want to see a sequel to it that was yet another copy? A Hobbit movie should have its own look & feel - otherwise forget a director like GDT & just hire some hack sitcom director & tell him to copy Jackson.

There are no wide-eyed virgins in the multi billion dollar business world. Harper-Collins and Houghton Mifflin are no different. They have a bottom line and have an eye to it at all times. Why else would they release a story that has been on my shelf for many years now and have the gall to advertise it as a new book? The name of the game is money money money. And anyone who thinks differently is denying reality.

Things were different under Allen & Unwin.... Of course, Raynor Unwin was not only a close friend of Tolkien (& Christopher), but also a fan of his work. For instance, the launch of Unfinished Tales was a very muted affair because Christopher had asked for that - he wanted UT to be seen very much as a small scale book for serious students of Tolkien & at that time there was no expectation that HoM-e would follow. And, to give credit where its due, this is why CoH was presented as a 'new' work - you have to understand that there is a major difference between works like TH, LotR & The Sil & works like UT & HoM-e. The latter are 'academic' works, aimed at serious students of Tolkien's works. They aren't meant to be read by the general Tolkien fan - most of HoM-e is 'unreadable' - & I should know, 'cos I've read it: parts of it two or three times.

So, UT & HoM-e have to be set aside from the other M-e writings: TH, LotR, TS & CoH are aimed at the general reader, UT & HoM-e at the Tolkien student. And the main reason for that is that the latter works are complicated, repetitive, & require a lot of background knowledge about Tolkien & about his sources. Much of whats in the later parts of HoM-e was not written for publication:- it was written for Tolkien himself, because (as Raynor & others have pointed out) Tolkien thought on paper - he would often write long pieces, even essays, to get things straight in his mind, or clarify some aspect of a story, or even just to convince himself that something actually worked.

[Sauron the White]

This morning I just rewatched PANS LABYRINTH to discuss it here. Those who are fans of movies like to play the game of looking at a filmmakers past work and speculating on how they would then make some future property. Del Toro has made a bunch of films but PANS is probably held up to be his best.

A rewatching of the film only confirmed my intial impression that the Fascist scenes in Spain were far and away the better part of the film while the fantasy scenes were weaker and not as interesting. In fact, given Del Toros love of horror and monsters, the fantasy scenes were far closer to horror than they were fantasy. The one scene of the creature with eyes in its hands was extremely dark and disturbing. Even the portrayal of the faun, was a bit dark and bordered on being twisted.

I have no doubt that Del Toro can do justice to the goblins/orcs and to Smaug and ther other forces of evil in HOBBIT. But I wonder about those here who cry out for a lighter touch and more of a kids film in line with WIZARD OF OZ or the POTTER films. I did not see it in PL.

However, I must say that its nearly impossible to look at a filmmakers past work and accurately judge how his future work would look. Especially when his past work is a limited body of work.

Sure, I can watch a dozen Frank Capra films and tell you how he would handle a story of the little honest guy up against the big corrupt machine --- thats easy. But I have no idea how Frank Capra would handle THE HOBBIT.

I can watch a bunch of John Ford westerns and tell you how he would probably handle a movie about an aging calvary commander in hostile Indian country. But I have no idea how Ford would handle the HOBBIT.

For the time being I will have to rest with the idea that Del Toro is a very good filmmaker with a good eye. That is about as far as I would go on this.

[Sauron the White]

and this just in from totalfilm.com
===========================================

World Exclusive: Del Toro clears up Hobbit rumours!
It’s NOT happening yet, Guillermo tells Total Film…
01 Feb 2008 4:11pm


“Well, the reality is that the Hobbit story has broken early because the negotiations have not ended and The Hobbit is not a sure thing.”

That’s Guillermo del Toro setting the record straight. With all the talk flying about the Pan’s Labyrinth helmer apparent sign-on to direct The Hobbit, Total Film called up our good buddy Guillermo to get the facts direct from him.

“The reality is, I will know that it's happening when we have the final word and I am fully and officially on board,” del Toro tells Total Film.

“I think what happens very often is that these rumours have a way of becoming real or not. I don't expect The Hobbit to be troublesome. But you know, then again, it may never happen... or it may!”

But make no mistake, del Toro does want this. Badly. “I would LOVE it,” says GDT. “I bought all the Tolkein books that were available in Mexico when I was 11 years old, but the one that I read at 11 years old was The Hobbit. So it left an indelible mark in my imagination.”

For the full story on The Hobbit, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and much, much more, make sure you read the full interview with del Toro in the April Issue of Total Film, out 21 February.

In the meantime, stick close to TotalFilm online for more GDT updates. “You know the beauty of The Hobbit, if it were to happen,” adds del Toro, “is that The Hobbit, out of all the books, is the one that resembles more a fairytale.

"I loved this very Hitchcockian idea of a very proper, prissy character with a very limited universe being taken on a journey where danger and pain and loss ultimately enhances his view of the world. And that to me is a very, very powerful story…”

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Well, to be frank, considering the films that Jackson had made before doing the LotR, would we have considered him the right candidate as a director? And despite all of the inconsistencies and weaknesses we book fans find in his version, he did amaze us with a wonderful set of visualizations and with a stronger trilogy of movies than anyone, I think, would have expected.

[Child of the 7th Age]

“You know the beauty of The Hobbit, if it were to happen,” adds del Toro, “is that The Hobbit, out of all the books, is the one that resembles more a fairytale.

"I loved this very Hitchcockian idea of a very proper, prissy character with a very limited universe being taken on a journey where danger and pain and loss ultimately enhances his view of the world. And that to me is a very, very powerful story…”

This at least sounds promising.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

And del Toro might do betterjustice then (say, PJ would)
to the morally complicated situation near the end of TH
with competing claims/rights of the "good guys" to
Smaug's treasure hoard.