And this is a bad thing? (Says she who was born and still lives in the aforementioned state. :D) Living here, one develops some kind of a sense of humor as a defense mechanism, against the crazy politics and mosquitoes, if nothing else.

I suppose it is rather fitting that the person with the most bizzare sense of humor in Britain's most famous oddball comedy troop (or would that be troupe?) would be from Wisconsin.

And I think Michigan shares Wisconsin's mosquitoes, Ibrin. They seem to be multitudinous this year. My daughter and I made an ill-fated hike into the woods last weekend, only to be turned back within a half-mile. :eek:

I agree emphatically that would be a brilliant choice and that he would be an extremely unlikely choice. Too bad.

Oh what the hell, I'll direct it.

I trust you more than PJ. ;)

Gilliam's not from Wisconsin, he's from Minnesota. However, I imagine that John Cleese believes that he's from Barcelona. ;)

Minnesota was also the home of much of the mst3000 crew.
And Mike Nelson grew up in Wisconsin and was working in the
Twin Cities before joining mst3000.

Pffft...the only difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota is that one has more vowels than the other. Both have 9 letters total and both have a lot of cows. Seriously, there's cows everywhere. And they are devious. Even now they are plotting bovine domination.

*knock, knock*

Oh, just a moment, there's someone at the door.

MOOOOOOWAHAHAHA!

Arrrrrgggghhhh!

This movie isn't going to happen, is it? They'll just keep coming up with excuse after excuse and it will languish in development Hell until being utterly forgotten.
For Gods sake, just do the movie or don't do it.
Don't keep toying with the fans like this.

More rumor-mongering:

Deadline reported a few days ago that the director's job was still open and that WB and MGM were lobbying hard to get Jackson to return to the helm. No news there, but one interesting aspect of the story is the idea that so many gross points have already been contracted on the picture that it will be tough to put together a deal that will attract a top tier director.

The story also notes that David Dobkin (a few Harry Potter films), David Yates (Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers), and -- double-ugh -- Brett Ratner have been angling for the job.

Meanwhile, IGN is reporting that TORN has sources who say that Jackson protégé Neill Blomkamp already has the job.

Anyway, they all sound like pretty pale replacements for Del Toro.

Well, it appears that PJ has decided to direct the films himself. Whether or not that is A Good Thing remains to be seen. I hope that Del Toro's input was helpful...

Haha, nice World Cup-themed mod on your avatar there, Esty.

Well, it seems it was almost inevitable that Jackson would take the reins after Del Toro's exit. Thanks for the update. Now it's hurry up and wait while MGM tries to get their financial mess sorted out... :rolleyes:

*appears suddenly out of absolute nowhere*

Well, I can't say I'm terribly surprised by PJ's return, I guess. If nothing else, I suppose, all the LOTR movies will have a unity of vision, at least.

I was really looking forward to what Del Toro would do with Middle-earth, and I think I definitely trusted him more than PJ with the whole bridge film thing. What a shame. If only he hadn't had to sit in uncertainty over rights, perhaps things would have worked out. I hope he doesn't feel his time was wasted, and I do hope that PJ doesn't just disregard all the work GDT did do.

*sigh*

Oh no! That's really quite suckish. I was looking forward to The Hobbit with all of my heart. Guess I will have to content myself with the book and my imagination. *sadness*:(

Be afraid. Be very afraid. :eek:

Be prepared for way over the top cgi of
especially Smaug, Beorn, and the Giant Spiders.

So Del Toro, in a heart-wrenching decision for both himself and Tolkien fans, decides to drop out of The Hobbit.

Bummer.

But surely he must have had some completely awesome project calling to him, something that put him in that Sophie's choice position of having to pick between it and TH. Maybe that At the Mountains of Madness adaptation he's had waiting in the wings for years.

Oh goody -- he's announcing his new project at ComicCon!

And it's...

Huh? Say that again? A redo of Haunted Mansion? Say that again, I think there's something wrong with my internet because it looks like he jumped from The Hobbit to adapt a Disney theme park ride.

That Del Toro would abandon The Hobbit to do that really is amazing. TH has a built-in fan base, and is nearly guaranteed to be a huge success, at least from a financial standpoint. I think it really must speak volumes about the dissatisfaction and frustration surrounding the project in general.

*is disappointed*

Then again, I guess we shouldn't be surprised... :rolleyes: