Thaindian News

June 1, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who was directing two films anchored in J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’, has stood down subsequent to two years on the project in the midst of studio postponements and schedule clashes.

Del Toro, in an announcement on ‘Lord of the Rings’ fansite, has declared that this has been the most difficult choice of his life. He has had to take it owing to the inability of the studio to establish a start date for filming ‘The Hobbit.’ Del Toro has fervently mentioned that he had devoted approximately two years of his life in order to build a globe as diverse and as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth. The decision to quit has been adopted by him with a lot of regret. Director Del Toro, who has a catalog of projects outlined for the next 10 years, had to choose between either displaying loyalty towards the uncertain project or detaching himself from the project.

Del Toro mentioned that he would continue to co-write the scripts with ‘Lord of the Rings’ director, Peter Jackson, and with Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens.

The resolution of Del Toro to disengage from the aforementioned project coincided with an unsure monetary future for the movie studio, MGM. This left queries about the sustainability of the two-movie project. The producers had wished to commence filming this summer but have not received the go-ahead. MGM is jointly producing ‘The Hobbit’ movies with New Line Cinema.

MGM, or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc, has to deal with a troublesome economic reality. It is battling with about $3.7 billion of debt. In November 2009, MGM had declared that it was thinking about a possible sale of the company. However, it had not found a credible procurer. Representatives of MGM have mentioned that they were analyzing numerous alternatives for the betterment of the company’s future.