Thursday, April 24

• It's Official: Guillermo del Toro to Direct Hobbit Flicks

  After months and months of speculation, it's finally been confirmed that Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro has officially signed on to direct both The Hobbit and its as-yet-untitled sequel. Variety reports that del Toro, currently hard at work putting the finishing touches on Hellboy II: The Golden Army, will soon be packing up his belongings and moving to New Zealand, where he'll spend the next four years making the films with the help of Lord of the Rings demigod Peter Jackson and his WETA wizards.

  The recent announcement throws one heck of a monkey wrench into del Toro's already packed schedule of upcoming projects, including a possible third Hellboy movie. Somehow I think the fanboys will find a way to forgive him.

  Source: Variety

  
  

  Posted 04/24/2008 by Thomas

  Peter Jackson | Guillermo del Toro | The Hobbit | Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Monday, January 28

• Welcome to the Shire, Guillermo del Toro

  Lord of the Rings geeks have reason to rejoice this morning. According to the The Hollywood Reporter, fanboy favorite Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) is currently in talks to direct the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit, based on LotR author J.R.R. Tolkien's follow-up to his acclaimed fantasy trilogy. It's a welcome development for Tolkien aficionados, the majority of whom would likely list del Toro as their second choice to helm The Hobbit after LotR director Peter Jackson, who has opted for Executive Producing duties on the highly anticipated pair of films.

  Del Toro is currently hard at work putting the finishing touches on Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, which opens July 11, 2008.

  
  

  Posted 01/28/2008 by Thomas

  Peter Jackson | Guillermo del Toro | Hellboy II: The Golden Army | Hellboy | The Hobbit

Wednesday, October 31

• Signs of life for a Halo flick

  The oft-discussed Halo flick, once dismissed as "entirely dead" by its own director, Neill Blomkamp, has apparently been upgraded to "mostly dead." According to CVG.com, a representative for Peter Jackson has confirmed that Jackson's FX studio Weta Workshop recently restarted pre-production on the videogame adaptation, with producers shopping the project to potential distribution partners.

  Hopes for a Halo flick appeared completely quashed a just few weeks ago, when Fox and Universal, the two studios who'd partnered to bring the project to the big screen, backed out of the deal, citing mounting costs as the primary reason.

  Could Halo hero Master Chief finally be ready for his close-up? We're not holding our breath.

  
  

  Posted 10/31/2007 by Thomas

  Peter Jackson | Halo

Monday, May 7

• Peter Jackson finally going back to work

  Dreamworks has won the bidding war to produce Peter Jackson's next project, The Lovely Bones, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

  THR describes the story, based on Alice Sebold's novel, as a supernatural drama about "a young girl who is murdered but continues to observe her family on Earth after her death. She witnesses the impact of her loss on her loved ones, while her killer skillfully covers his tracks and prepares to murder again."

  Uh-oh. "Supernatural drama" sounds suspiciously like "supernatural thriller." As we all know, supernatural thrillers invariably suck. Not like erotic thrillers. Those are awesome.

  
  

  Posted 05/07/2007 by Thomas

  Peter Jackson