The live chat "An Unexpected Party" was held on May 24 at Weta's website between fans and Guillermo del Toro, director of The Hobbit and its untitled sequel, and executive producer Peter Jackson. Del Toro and Jackson fielded fans' inquiries about the two projects, revealing a good deal about their plans for them.
"At this point in time the plan is to write [the screenplays] for the rest of this year and start early conceptual designs. 2009 will be dedicated to pre-production on both movies and 2010 will be the year we shoot both films back to back," Jackson told fans. "Post production follows one film at a time with The Hobbit being released December 2011, and (Film Two) release Dec 2012. That is the schedule in about as much detail as we have ourselves at the moment." Del Toro said the ratings for the two Hobbit movies would be the same as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "an intense PG-13."
Casting buzz claims that LOTR veterans Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), and Andy Serkis (Gollum) have all been approached to reprise their respective roles for the films. Del Toro clarified the matter by saying, "No casting has started yet ... but some people have thrown their helmet into the ring."
Jackson went further. "No casting has commenced and won't until the scripts are written. We have had chats with one or two of the LOTR actors however but the casting will be driven largely by the writing and it is impossible to cast 13 dwarves without knowing their personality and characters. We anticipate we won't be in serious casting mode for these movies until well into next year."
The Oscar-winning LOTR filmmaker later wrote that, "apart from extreme circumstances, we would never recast a character who appeared in the LOTR trilogy. You can read The Hobbit and pretty much see which characters play a part. The unknown factor is Film Two, which we are still developing. If we wished to write one of the LOTR characters into the narrative of Film Two, we would only do that with that actors blessing, and willingness to take part. Otherwise we'd take the writing in another direction."
Del Toro and Jackson's attention is now dedicated to adapting The Hobbit for the screen and developing a second film from scratch along with LOTR co-screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Jackson said that "the second movie doesn't have a title yet and probably won't until we write the script. As you will see we have the incredibly boring name Film Two which I assure you will not last for very long. Bear with us."
When asked if del Toro's Hobbit, which is based on a children's book, would depart tonally from the dark LOTR trilogy, Jackson replied, "I personally feel The Hobbit can and should have a different tone. The 'tone' of these stories shouldn't be defined by the pressure our characters were under in LOTR. The world is a different place at the time of The Hobbit. The shadow is not so dark. However, what should stay the same is the reality of Middle-earth, and the integrity we bring to it as film makers."
Del Toro advised fans that, unlike in the LOTR movies, animal characters in his Hobbit will speak (as they do in the book). "I think it should be done exactly as in the book -- the 'talking beast' motif has to exist already to allow for that great character that is Smaug. It is far more jarring to have a linear movie and then -- out of the blue -- a talking Dragon."
Of Smaug, del Toro wrote that he "should not be 'the dragon in the Hobbit movie' as if it was just another creature in the bestiary. Smaug should be 'The DRAGON' for all movies past and present. The shadow he cast and the greed he comes to embody -- the 'need to own' casts its long shadow and creates a dramatic/thematic contunity of sorts that articulates the story throughout."
ign.com,24/5/2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Lord of the Rings prequels:Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson speak
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