From the Tell Us Something We Didn’t Already Know Department comes word that Guillermo del Toro will be directing the announced adaptation of J R R Tolkien’s The Hobbit as well as a second film designed to bridge the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.
The news comes via an official announcement reported in Variety earlier this evening. But it does confirm what everybody had pretty much known for several weeks now. Del Toro even stated last weekend at the New York Comic Con, that the only thing standing in the way of an official announcement was a few last minute legal details.
Variety states that del Toro will relocate to New Zealand for the four years of production work required to produce the two films back-to-back.
While there are probably some Tolkien fans who are disappointed that Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson won’t be sitting in the director’s chair for the two films, he will still be very much hands on as a producer on the film. Additionally, it is believed, though not yet confirmed, that Jackson will co-write the two films’ screenplays with his Lord Of The Rings collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.
