Who should direct "The Hobbit"?

In my opinion Get Peter Jackson anyway, by hook or crook!

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Tim Burton? Goodness gracious me, no! Lots of black make-up, just for the sake of it? Johnny Depp as Bilbo, or more likely Gandalf? And the inevitable created part for ol' Big Hair herself, Helena Bonham-Carter? Gollum, perhaps?

No thanks.

Also, Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth featured completely the wrong mood for the Hobbit, so I wouldn't trust him for this particular fantasy tale.

I'd prefer Kevin Costner, as director and to play the part of Gandalf.

[Finiel]

If Tim Burton's gonna be the director dont be surprised if Depp would be casted.
Sam Raimi is more like an action film director than a fantasy movie director.

I like the guy who directed the 3rd Harry Potter film and a 3D cartoonish movie would be a good idea since its a children's book. The movie should convey Bilbo's wonderment in seeing everything new in Middle Earth--> seeing Elves and Trolls for the first time.

Its a movie with a bit of humor in it too

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

I think that none of these directors would be bad. I

Del Toro would be a very interesting choice. He has a great sense of the artistic. I am a bit worried about the darkness factor--I wouldn't mind seeing a darker Hobbit, not at all, but Pan's Labyrinth approached the pitch-dark, midnight type of deal, and while it was interesting, it was also painful to watch in a way that I don't think it is necessary for TH to be.

I like Peter Jackson. Just for the sake of contenuity, I want TH's Middle-earth to look and feel like the same Middle-earth of the three LOTR movies.

I also like Adamson's spirit. He seems to at least know how to conduct business in a very heavily effects-laden project, and I really enjoyed his Narnia. I think that he can handle more grown-up fare (Narnia gave me that impression), and I'd be curious to see what he made of Middle-earth.

Peter Weir wouldn't be an awful choice, though I don't know so much about him. I saw Master and Commander, but it really wasn't my type of movie at the time (I'd probably like it better, now), through no fault of his.

Tim Burton is probably not my first choice. His style is too much his own, and I feel like there's always an element of the stylized or unreal (or surreal) about his movies. Not a bad thing--I actually enjoy what I've seen of his work (though I've avoided Charlie and the Chocolate factory like a very special kind of plague)--but not quite right for Middle-earth. His Hobbit, like Del Toro's, would, at the very least, be visually interesting.

Raimi is ...meh. While they were hugely successful, the first two Spiderman movies weren't bad (I didn't bother with the third), but they also weren't great. They struck me as, I don't know, a little too mainstream and uncomplicated, or something. Perhaps that's unfair. I don't know what else I would have been expecting from a summer blockbuster. I think he has a passion for the project, and I like that he'd try to preserve PJ's style of Middle-earth. However, I just don't know if he has the artistry to carry it off.

[Sauron the White]

here is the latest on Del Toro from TORN

TheOneRing.net reported here at the end of January that Guillermo del Toro was 99 percent sure to direct “The Hobbit”. Since then the Tolkien Estate filed a lawsuit against New Line Cinema (a copy of which can be found here) and the movie studio has been folded up and put in the pocket of its owner Warner Bros. and its bigger parent Time Warner Inc.

After all the speculation and angst, the director of two “Hellboy” films (the second set for a July 11 release) still seems to be the top choice for director and despite the legal uncertainty, the quiet movements by the key players seem to suggest the film will still be made and sooner rather than later. So in this season of waiting, TORn was finally able to contact the fan-friendly director.


“At this stage anything I say is of no consequence for I am not yet signed to do “The Hobbit.” Negotiations advance but are still ongoing,” he said.
The Mexican born director is busy however researching not only the Hobbit but the greater J.R.R. Tolkien library.

“All I can say is that I am diligently going through all Tolkien material related to Middle-earth but only as a way of bridging a gap in my reading. I still respond the strongest to “The Hobbit,” but as an avid reader of Mythology I find a lot of his other writings fascinating. A perfect Cosmology forged from very eclectic sources,” he said.
He described himself as a bibliophile and his study of Tolkien’s mythology fits in with his passion for myth.

“I bought my first book at age 4 and my last one, last week an original pamphlet edition of Calmet’s (Augustine Calmet) dissertation on Ghosts and vampires from the 18th century.”
The director embraces Internet communities and has his own fan site at www.Deltorofilms.com where he participates and corresponds with fans.

“It is my belief that your community will be a joy to be a part of, whether I do “The Hobbit,” or not,” he said.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by GdT

A perfect Cosmology forged from very eclectic sources

That's quite a positive observation, bodes well. He's into the mythological/fairie elements rather than the adventure aspect.

[Mister Underhill]

More from the director on his Hobbit prospects here.

This is like the third mini-interview with Del Toro that I've seen in two weeks on the subject. At this point, I think it's all but a lock that he'll be at the helm. But sharpen your knives, haters! He says he'll be working with some version of Jackson's writing team.

[Sauron the White]

Well it does look like its all starting to come together... although a bit slower than you would otherwise think. Thanks for that update Mr. U.
Del Toro does say its a five year committment. Thats pretty significant.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

More from the director on his Hobbit prospects here.

This is like the third mini-interview with Del Toro that I've seen in two weeks on the subject. At this point, I think it's all but a lock that he'll be at the helm. But sharpen your knives, haters! He says he'll be working with some version of Jackson's writing team.

It will prove interesting to see if Del Toro's interest in the dark and disturbing aspects of fairy tales is brought out in his direction of TH or if Jackson's lighter fare of thrills and madcap adventure shows.