LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After spending the last two years developing "The Hobbit" as his latest directing project, Guillermo del Toro has stepped down as director of the J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation amid studio delays and schedule conflicts."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," Guillermo wrote in his announcement on "Lord of the Rings" fansite TheOneRing.net. "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."
well that sucks even without Del Toro this movie may not get made anytime soon...or at all
This is the studio that is wasting $75M on a 'Red Dawn' remake with a bunch of Nickelodeon rejects. If theyre in such dire financial straits, sell the rights to people who know how to make a decent movie.
Recent MGM Productions: Pink Panther 1 & 2 Taking of Pelham 123 Soul Men Superhero Movie Lions for Lambs Rescue Dawn School for Scoundrels Flyboys Basic Instinct 2
Box wrote:This is the studio that is wasting $75M on a 'Red Dawn' remake with a bunch of Nickelodeon rejects. If theyre in such dire financial straits, sell the rights to people who know how to make a decent movie.
Recent MGM Productions: Pink Panther 1 & 2 Taking of Pelham 123 Soul Men Superhero Movie Lions for Lambs Rescue Dawn School for Scoundrels Flyboys Basic Instinct 2
No wonder these jackasses are broke.
A good article discussing the MGM financial struggles.
It shouldn't have been a complete surprise. MGM has been clinging to "The Hobbit" like a last-ditch lifeline even as its other projects have skittered away. The 23rd James Bond movie went from an MGM-centric enterprise with a big directorial name (Sam Mendes) to a film that was indefinitely on ice. A movie that had already been completed and earning high test scores, "The Zookeeper," was handed over to Sony. Several other development projects were frozen in place. It was only a matter of time before some kind of unfortunate fate hit "The Hobbit." And while technically neither MGM nor co-financier and co-producer New Line was shutting down production, few could blame del Toro, watching all of this happen and feeling like his own production schedule was clouding up to the point of murkiness.
The world of independent-film financing has until now born the brunt of the crisis, as those less expensive, one-off pictures are, paradoxically, the ones that needed the cash from this more slippery world. With this news, one of the most anticipated and reliable franchises -- a Tolkien adaptation from an A-list group of creators -- is getting hit too.
Some would say that it's all a little unfair. MGM's business plan was a long-term one, a plan that required the development of franchises; the "Hot Tub Time Machine's" and "Valkyrie's" of the world were never going to be enough. If it was to succeed, it would need to take control of James Bond and, especially, "The Hobbit." There's truth to that, but there's also a kind of karmic fairness to how this all has gone down. MGM was created as part of the financial froth of the mid-2000s. And if there's one thing the last sobering 18 months has taught us, it's that if you live by the bubble, you die by the bubble
"I do not think baseball of today is any better than it was 30 years ago... I still think Radbourne is the greatest of the pitchers." John Sullivan 1914-Old athletes never change.
Box wrote:This is the studio that is wasting $75M on a 'Red Dawn' remake with a bunch of Nickelodeon rejects. If theyre in such dire financial straits, sell the rights to people who know how to make a decent movie.
Recent MGM Productions: Pink Panther 1 & 2 Taking of Pelham 123 Soul Men Superhero Movie Lions for Lambs Rescue Dawn School for Scoundrels Flyboys Basic Instinct 2
No wonder these jackasses are broke.
Wow, that's a huge list of losers. They must have had a few blockbusters in there, no?
Incidentally, Red Dawn is another one of the movies I must have saw 5,000 times back when HBO was the only movie channel around and Cable TV meant maybe 50 channels (who can really remember). I thought it was awesome and watched it again about 6 months ago. Sure, it's 80's cheesy, but that's part of the charm. WOLVERINES!
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by Dan Lambskin » Mon May 31, 2010 5:58 pm 
