After Years of Work, Guillermo del Toro Bolts From The Hobbit

Guillermo del Toro has been attached to direct The Hobbit for two years, and he's even been quietly auditioning actors for it over the last month (including one recent alum of Movieline's Verge feature -- guess who!), but it's been impossible for him to proceed as planned with the Lord of the Rings prequel without a firm greenlight from the in-turmoil, unsold MGM. Therefore, he announced today, he's leaving the project.

What this means for The Hobbit (which was to be divided into two parts, due for release in December 2012 and December 2013) is unclear, though both del Toro and Peter Jackson gave upbeat statements" to TheOneRing.net:

"In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life," says Guillermo. "After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien's Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I've been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director."

"We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave The Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone's control - has compromised his commitment to other long term projects," says Executive Producer Peter Jackson. "The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn't feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years. Guillermo is one of the most remarkable creative spirits I've ever encountered and it has been a complete joy working with him. Guillermo's strong vision is engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA".

"Guillermo is co-writing the Hobbit screenplays with Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and myself, and happily our writing partnership will continue for several more months, until the scripts are fine tuned and polished," says Jackson. "New Line and Warner Bros will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for The Hobbit. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work".

Developing...

Guillermo Del Toro departs "The Hobbit" [TheOneRing.net]