Yes, he did, on quite a regular basis. GDT, as he’s affectionately know here, quietly registered on the boards shortly before it was officially announced on April 24, 2008 that he would direct the two Hobbit films. His username is “Guillermo.” He posted an amazingly crafted riddle (both here and on the Hellboy site) reminiscent of the “riddle game’ between Bilbo and Gollum in The Hobbit. His intention was to have us guess the time of the official announcement that he was to direct the two films, but legalities delayed it by a few days.
Sadly, his decision to leave the Hobbit production broke as an exclusive story right here on our site, and he posted farewell messages to us all. To this day he remains a registered user here and a valued member of our community, and still drops in from time to time. We will always cherish his friendship and wish him nothing but the very best in his future endeavors.
Useful Links:
GDT’s original riddle post
GDT’s riddle reply post
GDT’s introductory post
Gullermo Del Toro Departs “The Hobbit”
GDT’s Hobbit Farewell post
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Rumors that PJ was in talks with MGM to make two Hobbit movies started circulating as early as mid-2006. After months of speculation, the announcement that PJ would actually produce the two films came on December 18, 2007. Guillermo Del Toro was announced as the director on April 24th of 2008 and word that Peter, Guillermo, Phillipa Boyens and Fran Walsh had started writing the script as a team came in August of that year. So, it looked like Peter would wear two hats, those of producer and screen-writer, until May 30, 2010 when Del Toro stepped down from the director’s role. After more months of speculation, the announcement was finally made on October 1, 2010 that PJ would, indeed, add a third hat to his responsibilities: that of director.
Useful Links:
Peter Jackson to produce “The Hobbit”
Del Toro announced as Hobbit director
Scripting for “The Hobbit” Begins
Peter Jackson to Direct “The Hobbit”
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Guillermo del Toro, when he was the director, indicated that he will remain true to the text and that animals will talk in the movies: “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.” It’s reasonable to expect PJ was in line with this and will also have the animals talk/communicate.
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In a nutshell: no. In the early stages of their collaboration, PJ and GDT planned to film the events in the book The Hobbit as a stand-alone movie, with a second movie, or ‘bridge move’ as it became known, used to address events outside of the primary storyline of The Hobbit, continuing to where the Lord of the Rings movies pick up the story again. Fairly early on, however, they confirmed that it made much more sense to film the storyline of The Hobbit over the span of two films, addressing events outside the story at the same time. ill span both films. PJ: “We just decided it would be a mistake to cram everything into one movie.”
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