When word came last month that “Hellboy” director Guillermo del Toro was eyeing a voyage to Middle-earth, loyal fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s lengendarium reacted with general approval and glee. If they couldn’t have Peter Jackson, then here, at least, was the next best thing.
You know what? Frodo himself agrees.
“I think [Guillermo’s] the perfect choice,” “Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood told MTV News. “I think he would certainly honor the previous work that Peter had done.”
For Wood, and others like Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin and Cate Blanchett, that was precisely the issue that held up their promised involvement with “The Hobbit” — again and again actors from the original trilogy told us they would only come back with Jackson’s blessing and involvement.
Now with the tag team of Jackson and del Toro seemingly together at last after an arduous court battle held up filming, that shouldn’t be a problem, Wood said, reiterating his enthusiasm to return to the world of the Shire.
“He hasn’t [talked to me yet about coming back], no. I think they’re just literally trying to figure it all out and work out who’s gonna do it and who’s gonna write it, but if it happens [that they want me]?” Wood said. “I’d certainly [return].”
As the men of Gondor say to Frodo: “Praise him. Praise him with great praise.”
But what do you think? Agree or disagree with Wood, sound off on Guillermo directing “The Hobbit” below.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
It sounds like everything is going well.. I’m really hoping that Elijah Wood will have a part in the upcoming Hobit movie.. He’s a teriffic actor and would be a great asset to the film..
February 21st, 2008 at 3:35 pm
There is no one better than Jackson and by the time this lawsuit is settled (1 to 2 years) then Jackson will have the time to do it and do it right in 3D. Onward and upward.
Jim Dorey
www.marketsaw.com
3D Movies and Technology
February 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pm
The little guy knows Jackson is best. Just a matter of time now and it will not get made for another 1 to 2 years. Del Toro will not be around then - and it goes to where it truly belongs: Peter Jackson, Director. And he makes them both in 3D.
February 21st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Del Toro will honor PJ’s work, but will he honor TOLKIEN’S?
It’ll be interesting to see how Elijah would be cast though…
February 21st, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Jim,
Do you think that you could try to get a word to your sources from an old man? Tell them that they are now working on borrowed time for some of the potentially recast stars that they would need to still be around for this movie; most notably Christopher Lee who if I am not mistaken is now 84. Even Gandalf in earthly form disguised as Ian Mckellen is no spring chicken. I wonder if there might be a way for WETA or whoever to get some footage of Sauroman (and possibly Gandalf) put together NOW just in case, and then incorporate it into the movie once the dust settles on this law suit if the need arises? It would be a real tragedy if Christopher Lee had left for the Grey Havens before this movie gets put together, and it would be an absolute travesty if my namesake was no longer on this particular leg of his journey when PJ comes to give him back his wizard staff once more.
Barring any ability to carry out such an ingenious plan to ensure that both actors WILL appear in the movie regardless of whether or not they are still with us when it is actively made, I do have another suggestion for your sources. And that is for anybody close to the top brass at either New Line or the Tolkien estate to dope slap them and make like Moe would for Larry or Curly; they are mucking up everything for everybody who truly cares for wizards and dragons, elves, goblins, bears, wolves, eagles, and Hobbits!
February 21st, 2008 at 5:39 pm
And dwarves, and Trolls!
February 21st, 2008 at 5:48 pm
This production needs to have the same values as Lord of the Rings and must be made with the original actors in their own roles. Michael Gambon is an excellent actor but he is not as good as Richard Harris in the role of Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films.I hope there will be no further delays.Peter Jackson, Fran & Philippa must have ultimate control because they respect Tolkien.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Peter did a good job with a great work, but there were mistakes. Gandalf’s magic was a little TOO subtle for one. The Fire Enchantments for which The Gray Wanderer was so famed “From Rivendell to The Mouths of Anduin,” is both more prominent and consequential in The Hobbit, and need be present. In the bridge we should finally see Glorfindel, and get a little better explication of why the finding of the One, wheter reclaimed or destroyed, was as the footsteps of doom for The Elves, connected to their fading and departing.
All that said, for the most parts, the films were beautiful. With Jackson’s direction, Del Toro should perform wonderfully, and maybe will avoid those choice mistakes that Jackson did make.
Above all else, though,aside from them being done well, for which Jackson’s direction is not a mandate, I want to see them sooner for later. The desire is great. Let the conflicts be cleared up with all quickness, and let us get our great movies ON TIME!
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:05 am
I’m a little scared with respect to how Elijah Wood or Sean Astin are going to re-appear in The Hobbit, since according to the original Tolkien story line their characters aren’t even supposed to be born yet! And though my memory might be failing me, I’m rather certain that both Viggo (as Aragorn) and Cate (as Galadriel) would also be a stretch, since I don’t recall either actually appearing in any live-action scenes within the original story (i.e The Hobbit.) And come to think of it, I don’t recall Legolas playing any role whatsoever; at best Orlando might appear in a cameo amid Thranduil’s forest feast…
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:52 am
By the time they work things out, Elijah will be the perfect age to play a 50-year-old hobbit (again), given that with their life span that translates to roughly a 33-year-old human. I think it would be fitting for Elijah to play Bilbo after having played Frodo, just as Ian Holm did. After all, page 22 of LOTR has the Gaffer describing Frodo as “Very much like Mr. Bilbo, and in more than looks.” It would be particularly interesting to cast Elijah in the role if he was challenged with keeping his Bilbo consistent with Ian Holm’s performance in the LOTR trilogy.
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Umm Grey Pilgrim, Saruman doesn not actually appear in The Hobbit. So they would not need to re-cast Christopher Lee. But I agree that they need to get cracking if they want Ian Mckellen to be Gandalf.
Yeah PJ messed some things up, and I think there is nothing wrong with a new director. Just because Peter did it does not mean he is the only one who could have. And I really hope Elijah isn’t Bilbo!!! That would confuse people who aren’t familiar with the books.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I would like to see John-Rys Davies as Gloin and see Viggo as Bard. I think they could get the story as close as they did with LOTR it will be a great movie. I think the big thing will be the casting of the other dwarfs will be hard.
February 29th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
#1 - Guillermo del Toro directed both Hellboy and Pan’s Labrynth (and has just wrapped on Hellboy II). He definitely has the fantasy film stripes to get the job done, and most likely, to do it while staying true to both Jackson’s LOTR film trilogy and Tolkien’s incredible stroytelling. I am not going to get into the whole “the movie is different from the book” debate here, but I worry little that del Toro will muck things up here. Besides, artistic integrity aside, isn’t a 2-part prequel to the LOTR film trilogy going to do much better at the box office, please many more Tolkien fans, and make lots more money for the studio if it fits seamlessly into a 5-movie set? Movie studios have seen what happens when similar-subject movies fail to fit together. Remember “Batman” and “Batman Returns”? That franchise went to you know where in a handbasket once Gotham City somehow went from a rainy, dark, dreary place, in need of a superhero’s help (as it should be), to a friggin’ neon jungle infested with nothing but day-glo punks and batmobiles with 6′ high fins on them!
#2 - In keeping with the Jackson LOTR film trilogy and Tolkien’s work, The Hobbit should not have Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, John Rhys-Davies, etc. The only carry-over characters between LOTR and The Hobbit are Gandalf, Galadrial, Celeborn, Elrond, and Bilbo (and possibly a few others, but definitely not Gimli, Arwen, Frodo, Sam, Legolas, etc.). So no, Elijah Wood should not be Bilbo - find somebody close to Ian Holm and run with it. Does anyone really want Elijah Wood’s face to be both the guy who finds the ring under the Misty Mountains and the guy who then later receives the ring from Bilbo in Hobbiton? Come on now. There should be few actors reprising roles, subject to how closely the script follows the book, and the extent to which other parts of Tolkien’s works are brought in. For example, if we want to see Viggo Mortensen in The Hobbit, then the script should bring in the events occurring while Bilbo and the dwarves headed to Erebor - Aragorn tracking and finding Gollum, and taking him to prison in King Thranduil’s kingdom for interrogation. Likewise, if we want to see Christopher Lee, then the script needs to include Gandalf’s route once he leaves the dwarves and Bilbo on the western borders of Mirkwood - he headed straight to a meeting of the Istari, or the White Council, to argue about mounting an attack on Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood, as Gandalf believed Sauron was at that time just beginning to rebuild there. Gimli? No way - who was it that suggested that John Rhys-Davies play both Gloin and Gimli (Gloin’s son). Jeez. In my opinion, to make this work, and to most closely follow the story line of The Hobbit, we need Kate Blanchett, Ian McKellan, Hugo Weaving, somebody young enough to play Bilbo, and that’s it. Plus, let’s not forget, although most of the foregoing actors slide in and out of the story, the main focuse is on Bilbo and the dwarves. Gandalf, helps hook Bilbo and Thorin up, takes them to Rivendell, and the splits. Same thing with Elrond. The real casting rub here is always going to be Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the dwarves.
#3 - Trust me - Warner Bros. is motivated by money, and knows that screwing up The Hobbit will cost them lots of it. Digitally creating Smaug in a realistic way, along with the Mirkwood spiders, the 3 trolls, the Battle of the Five Armies, the inside of Erebor, Esgaroth, etc. is going to cost some serious dough, and I highly doubt that Warner Bros. is willing to risk pissing off the hardcore fans, who often go to see these movies several times and own all of the DVDs.
#4 - Last thing? I want to know when Christopher Tolkien is going to license the rights to The Silmarillion, as that one book alone probably has 5-6 good movies in it! The stories of Beren & Luthien, the Darkening of Valinor (and the Exile of the Noldor), Numenor, Tuor and Voronwe, Gondolin, and the Children of Hurin are even better than The Hobbit and LOTR!
February 29th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Whoops - Glooum is a Hobbit-LOTR carry-over character took. And again, Andy Serkis is obviously the way to go here . . .
March 5th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I don’t see why they can’t have Ian Holm play the young Bilbo. He did so perfectly well in Lord of the Rings… And before anyone says “He is much older now”, Makeup is an amazing craft and could easily make him look as young as he did when they shot the Scene down in the Dark where he meets Gollum!
But they are going to have to get moving on it.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Oh… and WHY on earth would Elijah Wood have a part in this Prequel!? It takes place before he is even born!
March 27th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Wishful thinking. From the sound of all of the rumors, none of the original cast is going to be in these two prequels, if they get made at all. With New Line being absorbed and the new lawsuit by the Tolkien estate, the wait to begin these films may be a long one indeed.
If they do ever get made, these films are going to be original productions; new director, possibly new writers, new cast. I think Peter Jackson’s involvement is going to be minimal. He will be lending his resources with only final approval at the end of production. Jackson has clearly moved on from the world of Tolkien. If he had truly wanted to be involved in the creation of these films, he would be directing.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:45 am
I think Del Torro could do an amazing job. Pan’s Labyrinth was awe-inspiring. And as PJ will still be involved I can’t complain. I have been an avid LOTR fan from childhood and am excited to see the Hobbit finally making headway. My one complaint would be if they chose not to cast Ian Mckellan and Andy Serkis as Gandalf and Gollum, there is no way any other actor could play them. And I agree with roger as Viggo as Bard.