Del Toro Steps Down from "The Hobbit"

Guillermo Del Toro left the project that he's been working on for the past two years, The Hobbit.

The director of Pan's Labyrinth, (an AtD favorite), made the announcement on the Lord of the Rings fansite TheOneRing.net just hours ago. He called it the "hardest decision of my life," and cites the ongoing delays in the setting a start date for filming as the reason for his choice to step down.
He has a long line of projects to work on in the upcoming 10 years, and the uncertainty in the starting of this film was a large scheduling conflict for him.

Del Toro was so concentrated on this film for the last two years that he even moved his wife and children to New Zealand, where the movie is set to be shot. The director's original commitment for the two films was for only three years of his time, not the six it's turning into.

Del Toro stated, however, that he will continue to co-write the screenplays with Peter Jackson.

MGM gets an extension on its debt

MGM is staying in business everyone... for now. Variety is reporting that MGM gets to skip the next three months of interest payments to its lender. Interest on 3.7 billion dollars is a lot of money. It's only three months, but what it gives MGM is some breathing room to figure out what it's going to do next.

The real goal has to be to get The Hobbit off the ground. The fourth movie in the Lord of the Rings saga is hopefully going to get the studio out of the red and into the black. Guillermo Del Toro is signed to direct and Peter Jackson will produce. The movie will undoubtedly be a success; the built in audience alone could generate anywhere from 300 to 700 million dollars worldwide. That's a lot of money! A lot of money! This extension will help, but I don't think it will solve anything. The only movie the studio has released THIS YEAR is Fame, and that has only produced 11 or so million dollars... um yeah... we'll wait for The Hobbit.

Quickie: Guillermo Del Toro confirms that Hugo Weaving has been cast in The Hobbit

Guillermo Del Toro is a true visionary. His films of fantasy, imagination and magic are truly something to behold. Del Toro's Hellboy movies and Pan's Labyrinth have been critical and commercial successes. Today it was reported that Hugo Weaving has been cast in The Hobbit, a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I don't know about you all, but Matt and I are huge fans of this man's work and for good reason. I loved his performances in The Matrix trilogy and V for Vendetta. As news is released, we'll keep you posted. And remember, come to ATD for all your movie needs.