News on Hollywood's Hobbit
October 14th 2009 05:02
Sir Ian McKellen, better known as Gandalf to fans of the Lord of the Rings series, recently had a chat with Empire Magazine about his upcoming projects. He'll be donning the wizard's garb once again in the two film versions of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, the first of which is due out in December 2011. It's a long way off, but already has diehard Tolkien fans anticipating a cinematic masterpiece.
Both prequels to the Lord of the Rings will be directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth), with Peter Jackson in the role of producer. McKellen describes del Toro as being "one of the most brilliant men I've ever met", and also let some details slip about the production of the two films.
"The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon," he said. "Then they'll be budgeted, and then they'll be cast. And they'll be going when they've always said they would be, which is next spring - March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, 'We're going to film for 383 days.' He's got that artistic autism! Jackson's the same; they're very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they've so much in common. They both can't stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they're both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal."
Sounds to me like an ideal combination, and for the first time in a while it's a Hollywood epic that will be worth waiting for. I'll keep you updated on the film's progress!
'There are no safe paths in this part of the world.'
Both prequels to the Lord of the Rings will be directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth), with Peter Jackson in the role of producer. McKellen describes del Toro as being "one of the most brilliant men I've ever met", and also let some details slip about the production of the two films.
"The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon," he said. "Then they'll be budgeted, and then they'll be cast. And they'll be going when they've always said they would be, which is next spring - March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, 'We're going to film for 383 days.' He's got that artistic autism! Jackson's the same; they're very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they've so much in common. They both can't stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they're both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal."
Sounds to me like an ideal combination, and for the first time in a while it's a Hollywood epic that will be worth waiting for. I'll keep you updated on the film's progress!
| 55 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel
Comment by Journeywoman
Great Hair Style Tips
I Dream of Hollywood
Fashion Peach
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Del Toro is a great director, and I can't wait to see what kinds of stuff he envisions, especially the forest of giant spiders and, of course, Smaug the dragon.
Comment by Journeywoman
Great Hair Style Tips
I Dream of Hollywood
Fashion Peach
I actually haven't seen any of del Toro's movies so I'll take your word for it! If he is, like McKellen says, very similar to Peter Jackson then there's got to be some ingenuity there. Just looked up that he'll be doing Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (one of my fave mini-novels!) and Frankenstein very soon as well. Busy man! He's making some good choices there, how nice to see a filmmaker who doesn't just think of the bottom line and the lowest common denominator of audiences... might have to become a fan. Cheers for the comment Bryn!