Del Toro to direct 'Hobbit' and sequel (THR, VAR, TOR)
By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte and Tom Tapp
After a long game of will he or won�t he? Guillermo del Toro has closed his deal to direct "The Hobbit" and its sequel for New Line and MGM. Del Toro will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work with "The Lord of the Rings" filmmaker Peter Jackson, who is exec producing, and his Wingnut and WETA production teams.
The two films will be shot back-to-back, telling the story of the 60-year period between "The Hobbit" and "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first of the "Rings" trilogy.
The sequel will mark the first time the series has traveled beyond Tolkien's work, according to Variety.
The announcement came Thursday afternoon jointly from Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich, and MGM�s Mary Parent.
New Line is overseeing development and will manage production. Both films are being co-produced and co-financed by New Line Cinema and MGM, with Warner Bros. distributing domestically and MGM handling international.
The deal is likely to be hugely benficial for all involved, as the wildly popular "Lord of the Rings" series grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide.
Del Toro is still in post-production on �Hellboy 2,� due out in July.
The official signing of Del Toro comes four months after New Line settled a lawsuit with Jackson over �The Lord of the Rings.� Sam Raimi was the initial front-runner to direct �The Hobbit� but del Toro emerged in recent months as the likely candidate.
There is currently no start date for production and no script but it is expected that the �LOTR� scripting team of Jackson, Walsh and Philippa Boyens will collaborate with del Toro, notes Variety.
"We have long admired Guillermo's work and cannot think of a more inspired filmmaker to take the journey back to Middle-earth," Walsh and Jackson said in a statement. "We are delighted 'The Hobbit' is in such trustworthy hands."
Del Toro, for his part, called the deal "a great honor." And said he was "indeed blessed to become a part of the filmmaking community that Peter, Fran and their extraordinary team of collaborators have created in New Zealand."
After posting a riddle about the upcoming announcement on TheOneRing.net earlier this week, del Toro himself wrote yesterday:
�I must say you guys solved my, perhaps, ill-conceived riddle quite fast (I'm ashamed, actually) and got the date and times right. Nevertheless, the powers of red tape extended the process for hours and days longer.
But now its all done.
I'm confirmed and signed as the HOBBIT (SES) and I hope to join your community form this day forth.
Now I''ll go and have a second breakfast to celebrate!�
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