Del Toro Quits 'The Hobbit'

[Mister Underhill]

Yes, Heavenly Creatures was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay, and got some other awards attention.

More importantly, though, Tolkien wasn't a multi-billion dollar franchise when New Line decided to take a big gamble on Jackson. As Bob Dylan once said, things have changed.

Jackson has his virtues. I mean he's not soulless like Bay, or clueless like Boll. I heartily agree that the original Kong is awesome, a landmark film of its time, like Star Wars, that fired the imaginations of a generation of filmmakers and still holds up today. Still and all, I thought there was some nice work in Kong. I agree overall though that he's not the "New Spielberg" he was hailed as when the LotR was breaking the bank.

[Andsigil]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

Yes, Heavenly Creatures was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay, and got some other awards attention.

More importantly, though, Tolkien wasn't a multi-billion dollar franchise when New Line decided to take a big gamble on Jackson. As Bob Dylan once said, things have changed.

Jackson has his virtues. I mean he's not soulless like Bay, or clueless like Bole. I heartily agree that the original Kong is awesome, a landmark film of its time, like Star Wars, that fired the imaginations of a generation of filmmakers and still holds up today. Still and all, I thought there was some nice work in Kong. I agree overall though that he's not the "New Spielberg" he was hailed as when the LotR was breaking the bank.

Has anyone beside me seen Jackson's 1996 film, "The Frighteners"? I thought it was quite entertaining and very well-made.

I especially enjoyed the cameo by R. Lee Ermey. That was a touch of genius.

[Thinlómien]

I was really disappointed when I heard this a few days ago. Maybe it's like Nogrod says - Del Toro was too good for this. It would've just been very interesting to see his Middle-Earth: I think he's the kind of director who has enough vision of his own that he could "save" the jacksonified Middle-Earth. I'm not expecting that from any random blockbuster/fantasy movie director...