Geeks rejoice, because it's finally official. Dark cinema fantasist Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone) has been signed to direct The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien's precursor to The Lord of the Rings, which when adapted for the movies in 2001, busted all blocks in its path.
Wingnut Films will produce the MGM/New Line collaboration. The adaptation will spring two films, and it tells the tale of Bilbo Baggins on a quest with a group of dwarves to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim a treasure from Smaug the dragon. Oh, and it has Baggins taking The One Ring from Gollum.
Del Toro will direct the films back-to-back after completing Universal's "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"; sequel to the entertaining Mike Mignola comic-book adapatation. He will move to New Zealand for four years while the project is underway.
The WETA production, post-production and visual effects facilities, initially built for The Lord of the Rings will be pressed into service again.
There are many questions remaining: who's writing the script? It's widely reported that the Lord of the Rings writing team (Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens) will return to collaborate with del Toro.
Who will play Bilbo? (Sir Ian Holm is 76, and the role requires a fair amount of physical exertion.)
And will Sir Ian McKellen reprise his role as Gandalf the Grey?
I can only hope that Howard Shore will return to compose the music...
