Guillermo Del Toro On Making The Hobbit
The cult director exclusively updates us...
BY Oct 29th 2009 0:00AMFILED UNDER: Features
User Comments (4)
Eighteen months ago, Guillermo del Toro had a 10-year-plan. His life was mapped out, and it had nothing to do with JRR Tolkien’s lovingly rendered cartography of Middle-earth.
“I was calmly laying out the next decade of my life when The Hobbit appeared,” he laughs. “I was preparing all these things and all of a sudden The Hobbit shows up and takes over my life.”
Make no mistake: The Hobbit is his precious. Del Toro knows more than anyone that this diptych could – should – define his career.
And so the director has been busy building a world that not only honours JRR Tolkien’s book and Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy but will emerge assuredly, triumphantly, his own.
Our very own cuddly character, Jamie Graham, snuggled up to Del Toro at his Wellington base of operations, and talked exclusively about the biggest films of next decade.
The Hobbit has taken much longer to design than your other movies…
It took almost a year. Which for me is very, very long because normally I take about a third of that time to design movies like Hellboy. And if you actually take into account we have three or four times the number of artists… [chuckles].
We produced hundreds, literally hundreds, of drawings; dozens and dozens of maquettes; dozens of material tests. It’s epic. And we are still going to be designing into production…
Next: Scripting the film
Print Comments (4)
1: Motley says
I AM SO EXCITED BY THIS - I JUST CAN'T WAIT!
I love Mr Tolkien, Mr Del Toro and Mr Jackson and am really looking forward to seeing who has been cast as Bilbo, who is Smaug's voice, whether it has the warmth and humour of Tolkien and can effect like LOTR did. *squeeeee*
Posted: Oct 29th 2009 // 11:10AMAlert a moderator
2: Looseball says
Del Toro and Peter Jackson are two of the greatest filmmakers ever, I have tremendous faith they'll make an amazing film just like LOTR was and hold up to everything that he said in this interview. If I were going to cast Smaug, it would definitely have to be James Earl Jones.
Posted: Nov 7th 2009 // 4:35PMAlert a moderator
3: lonelymountain says
I do hope we get to see a bit of old Bombadil!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZbA6nMqV1g
Posted: Nov 7th 2009 // 11:48PMAlert a moderator
4: labrat says
I like the idea of a JEJones voice, but Smaug needs to be something no one has ever heard, and I hope it is not snake like (slitherin-like). But that JEJ quality. I don't know how the dragon will be able to talk without looking hooky. Same for Beorn and his animal talk, and his pets, I hope it doesn't turn into a child's cartoon.
There are so many important things that need to be in the movie. Examples: Thorin's father, GFather and Dain, were involved in the goblin wars in Moria, and Thrain and Thror were bearers of the one of the Seven. Bolg was killed by them, but one of his relatives (son, brother?) was the Great Goblin. I also think that the One Ring left Gollum, not so much because of Bilbo, but because Thorin a ring heir, and Gandalf who bore one the Three, were nearby in the caves.
How did the Trolls get Glamdring and Orcrist-were they in Moria or some goblin hoard for millenia? Also, I think that when Gandalf encountered friends from Rivendell during the Troll episode that these friend could have been Elrond's sons and maybe a very young Aragorn. And surely the Dwarves stayed at Bree during their trip to Rivendell and passed by Weathertop.
Thorin's father was kidnapped in Mirkwood (Gloin was his companion, but was not kidnapped, luckily) and taken to Dol Guldur where he was tortured and his ring taken from him. Gandalf found him there, but was unable to save him, but Gandalf did learn about Sauron. And during Bilbo's travel year, the White Council drove Sauron out of the Dol Guldur, the same year the Ring was found by Bilbo.
More as it occurs to me
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