Guillermo del Toro to Hobnob with 'The Hobbit'!!!
Good news tonight for fantasy lovers everywhere--according to Variety, master filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has just signed a deal to direct a film adaptation of The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel that precedes his epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. And Del Toro will actually direct two films--a Hobbit adaptation and a sequel film that deals with the period of time between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson, who's no stranger to Tolkien adaptations (having helmed all three Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings films, will produce, along with his production company Wingnut Films and his visual effects house Weta. New Line and MGM will produce on the Hollywood end (with Warner Brothers distributing the film domestically and MGM handling the international distribution). With Pan's Labyrinth and the upcoming Hellboy II: The Golden Army to his credit (be sure to check out all of our exclusive coverage of the film), del Toro clearly knows how to breath life into big-screen fantasy, but we like to think he was chosen to direct because he himself looks more like a hobbit than any director since, well, Peter Jackson!
