News » Exclusive: Guillermo del Toro's Hobbit Secrets Spilled

Exclusive: Guillermo del Toro's Hobbit Secrets Spilled

The director explains the project's continued development to RT

We couldn't spend an hour in Guillermo del Toro's company - as part of our Dinner and the Movies interview series - without talking The Hobbit, and the visionary director spilled plenty of secrets to RT about his upcoming adaptation.

"[The Hobbit is] a very different book than the trilogy," he explained. "It's a book that's written from a start of innocence and an ending of disappointment. The ending is quite bittersweet and melancholic. The Hobbit as a self-contained movie will have its own personality."

"When Tolkien wrote the book he was not making a prequel ... and if there are gaps in the logic of the use or the powers of the ring between the first film and the trilogy, they will be the same gaps that Tolkien had writing the book. We'll try to deal with it, but I'm not going to betray the spirit of the book in order to fit the cinematic incarnation."

Speaking of the appeal of the connection for him, del Toro told us, "it's all seen from a really humble, honest, little guy point of view. I'm not saying Bilbo is a child, but he is a very sheltered character and I love the journey. The dynamic of the hobbit with the dwarves is a great interaction. You have the proper guy and these foul, adorable creatures around him."

Fans' biggest concern about Peter Jackson and del Toro's adaptation of The Hobbit has been the announced "bridge" film which will continue the story from The Hobbit as it leads into The Fellowship of the Ring, separate from any published work. But, he assured us, the shape is still very much up in the air.

"I'll only do it if it works and if it feels like it's going to work on paper," del Toro told RT. "I don't think any of us is going to do it just to do it. There's no outside pressure. We're coming to the idea of the second film with glee and with the desire to utilise something that expands rather than bridges."

There's plenty more Hobbit goodness as part of the 4th, 5th and 6th parts of our mammoth Dinner and the Movies interview with del Toro, which you can watch over here.
firecover098

firecover098 on 07-11-2008 06:10 AM

Peter Jackson is cool. I saw many hot guys on 'ric h ki ss . c om'. Also I saw his profile there. He's sincere, sexy and honest there since he's a certified millionaire there. Of course he's one of the quality men there.

Marcist

Marcist on 07-11-2008 07:34 AM

Could we get a system up to flag spam comments? Almost every article I read on here is tagged with a comment advertising some useless website... it's pretty annoying

kdbarrett

kdbarrett on 07-11-2008 09:40 AM

Yeah, the cheesy web plugs are pretty annoying. I'm not sure there's any way to programmatically pick out the way that site was listed, though. Maybe we could a moderator? I'm sure the RT folks have TONS of time on their hands...

Zeppelin047

Zeppelin047 on 07-11-2008 09:58 AM

agreed

Zeppelin047

Zeppelin047 on 07-11-2008 10:01 AM

But anyways, that is cool news about the "bridge" film between the Hobbit and Fellowship. They arent going to make the film just cause they can, they would only make it if it seemed necessary. Although they could make it in any case and make a crapload of money. My guess would be that even if Del Toro didnt make that bridge film, someone else would...

TombstoneLawDog

TombstoneLawDog on 07-11-2008 01:31 PM

I just noticed the spambots are getting more 'advanced' though- Notice this one started with 'Peter Jackson is cool' before it went into its misbegotten sales pitch? *Soon* we won't even be able to *TELL* that b#tchkiss.suk has infiltrated us..

BACK on topic-- Del Toro sounds respectful and earnest and it all sounds great. I admit I patently don't believe him when he says there's no outside pressure. Maybe not yet, anyway. PLEASE stay strong with this, dude.
I WANNA BELIEVE!

Ashron

Ashron on 07-11-2008 02:27 PM

I'm just glad to hear that he's going to stick with the more "innocent" lighthearted tone that the book has. Should be a lot of fun.

Ssillississ

Ssillississ on 07-13-2008 02:17 PM

I'm only gonna watch the bridge if Frodo rides a skateboard and says things like "Radical, Dude!"

drtruebl

drtruebl on 07-15-2008 09:05 AM

I like his mention of the gaps in the power of the Ring. The Ring should be treated as much more of a novelty or trick and should seem much less evil. The audience will know but the characters should not, though Gandalf has his suspicions. Anyway it's all good to hear!

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