Guillermo
del Toro has left The Hobbit
movies. As a director at least. This was reported first on TheOneRing.net.
The man has been sequestered in New
Zealand already for a massive chunk of time writing and prepping the two
movies with Peter Jackson and all the while his myriad projects are
announced or wallow in uncertainty.
No more, says Guillermo. Though his
passion is as strong as passion can be, Guillermo is no longer adrift in
a sea of studio uncertainty and a commitment that began at three years
and has evolved into six years, a number too great to sacrifice for the
grueling though rewarding Tolkien stories.
Life’s too short. And fragile.
This
actually pleases me greatly, for this means we get more work from the
man over the next few years. As good as his Hobbit films would have
been, I believe original work of his trumps them. He casts a huge shadow
of his own, and there’s a thought that at the end of the day he’d still
have to exist under the great ones of Mr. Jackson and Mr. Tolkien.
Personally,
I’d love to see him blot out the tall lanky one of Howard Phillips
Lovecraft with the definitive movie of his career.
But I’ll settle for one of the many
great things bursting from that head of his. He’s one of the great
creators we have and one of the best people I know. A talent like his
can’t lie in stasis for too long. It’s unfair to him and unfair to his
fans.
And
frankly, I know there are things he needs to be close to on this side
of the world that are much more important than hairy-toed dumpling men.
All
the details of the departure are here, but as someone in one of outer
rings of his hemisphere of friends I see this as a healthy and positive
decision. The Hobbit doesn’t need a Guillermo del Toro to be a delight.
But there are are many things Guillermo has that are uniquely his own
that require his grace. And we need a chance to see them!