Waiting Around for ‘The Hobbit’

[Michelle Sandberg]

July 22, 2010, 3:30 pm
Waiting Around for ‘The Hobbit’
By MICHAEL CIEPLY AND BROOKS BARNES

4:13 p.m. | Updated SAN DIEGO— At Comic-Con, even the lines have lines. One way to join the line for a Thursday morning rundown on the “Hobbit” movies from staff members of TheOneRing.net, a fan site that has consistently broken news about the Middle Earth movies, was to first get in another line for those without credentials (even if you already had one). Then you could scoot through the big registration room, out the other end, and into the Hobbit line — just in time to grab one of about 300 seats.

Waiting around has become something of a habit when it comes to “The Hobbit.” For weeks, executives at Warner Brothers and its New Line Cinema unit have been trying to close a deal under which Peter Jackson, who is a producer and writer of a planned pair of Hobbit films, would also direct them. More than two weeks ago, word buzzed through Hollywood that a deal was almost done, but things, as of this writing, are still in suspense.

During their “good news/bad news” presentation, staff members of TheOneRing.net were hard-pressed to come up with tidbits on the “good news.” Besides Guillermo del Toro no longer directing, Ian McKellen is tired of waiting around to play Gandalf, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which owns half the project, is still a mess, as nearly as anyone can tell. Warner Brothers, which has the wherewithal to finance the movies on its own, loves the script, said Chris Pirrotta and his colleagues at TheOneRing.net.

The brightest spot they could find was an assurance that “The Hobbit” movies planned by Warner Brothers and its New Line Cinema unit in partnership with MGM would not be in 3-D — that drew cheers from the old-school crowd. Mr. Del Toro, the panelists said, was here at Comic-Con, but declined an invitation to speak to the Hobbit fans, because he felt heart-sick about the project’s having drifted. “If ‘The Hobbit’ does happen, we feel pretty confident now that Peter Jackson will be the director,” said Larry Curtis, a staff member of TheOneRing.net. But the “if” hung heavy in a hall filled with about 300 fans, many of whom had come hoping for better news.

But Mr. del Toro, who reluctantly walked away from “The Hobbit” in May because of production delays, made a surprise appearance to announce the subject of his next big movie project: Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion.

Walt Disney Studios first tried to turn the famous attraction into a motion picture in 2003 and did a belly flop. “The Haunted Mansion,” a $90 million comedy starring Eddie Murphy, was derided by moviegoers and took in just $75 million at the North American box office. “We are not returning Eddie Murphy’s calls,” Mr. del Toro said to cheers.

Mr. del Toro, known for creating elaborate worlds in films like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Hellboy,” said his Haunted Mansion movie would be scary and dark – “children will be afraid,” he said – and filmed in 3-D. Disney released no other details.

“This for me is one of the few holy grails in life,” he said, noting that he tries to visit Disneyland at least once a year and regards the Haunted Mansion as “some of the most precious real estate on earth.”
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/waiting-around-for-the-hobbit/

[Michelle Sandberg]

June 1, 2010, 8:49 am
Is Peter Jackson’s Hat in the ‘Hobbit’ Ring?
By DAVE ITZKOFF



Peter JacksonMark J. Terrill/Associated Press Peter Jackson, the director of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

As the producers of “The Hobbit” undertake the very gloomy business of seeking a new director for the film adaptation of that J. R. R. Tolkien fantasy novel, they may have a potential replacement candidate in their midst who already knows a thing or two about translating Tolkien’s texts to the big screen:  Peter Jackson, an executive producer and screenwriter on “The Hobbit.”

In an interview with The Dominion Post of New Zealand, Mr. Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, said that if necessary he would step in as director of “The Hobbit,” pending his commitments to other films.

Over the weekend, the filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) said he was withdrawing as director of “The Hobbit,” citing the continued delays of its start of production. The film is planned to be released in two parts in 2012 and 2013 by MGM, which put itself up for sale last year and is still seeking buyers.

In an e-mail message to Entertainment Weekly, Mr. Jackson’s manager, Ken Kamins, wrote, “As for Peter directing, that’s not something he can consider at this time as he has other commitments to other projects.” Among his coming films, Mr. Jackson is producing “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” which Steven Spielberg is directing, as well as an untitled sequel.

But Mr. Jackson told The Dominion Post his directing “The Hobbit” was not an impossibility. “If that’s what I have to do to protect Warner Brothers’ investment, then obviously that’s one angle which I’ll explore,” he said, adding: “The other studios may not let me out of the contracts.”

The “Hobbit” films, which are being made in New Zealand, are said to have a budget of $150 million. The Wellington Chamber of Commerce told The Dominion Post that the project is worth “many millions of dollars” to the city.


http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/the-hobbit-could-ring-in-peter-jackson-after-all/