# Guillermo Del Toro quits The Hobbit **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332 "2010-05-31T00:22:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/21 "2010-05-31T16:00:38Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Del Toro is so much better a director than Jackson that I was quite looking forward to this. While I enjoyed the LOTR movies, I did not like the liberties Jackson took with the story and felt the direction was uninspired for acting and camera work. Sorry, but this statement produces genuine cognitive dissonance in me. I read the words, I know they’re in English, but I can’t make them make sense. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/22 "2010-05-31T18:32:11Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The project was beshitted as soon as they decided to make it into two movies. It’s not two stories, it’s one story, and it’s not even really that long of a story. Two movies for _The Hobbit_??? That’s nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/23 "2010-05-31T18:37:07Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > Del Toro was saying how he was against making these films in 3D. Uh oh. It somehow hadn’t even occurred to me that they’d want to do that to _The Hobbit_. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/24 "2010-05-31T18:40:17Z")
Oh, I don’t know. Seeing Bilbo’s big hairy toes poking out of the screen could be quite entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/25 "2010-05-31T18:41:39Z")
Whatever they do, let us hope that they don’t hire fucking Joss Whedon. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/26 "2010-05-31T18:51:09Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > My understanding was that only one film was going to be “The Hobbit” and the other would be extrapolated material that took place between The Hobbit and LOTR. Which still seems like a terrible idea, but there you go. Uh, no. That was something they discussed originally, but they later announced that The Hobbit itself will be both films. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/27 "2010-05-31T19:25:53Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > Whatever they do, let us hope that they don’t hire fucking Joss Whedon. Not unless you want to turn Bilbo into a slightly off-kilter female hobbit who was a natural talent at fighting but never got the chance to use it until Gandalf and the dwarves show up. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/28 "2010-05-31T19:45:15Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > Whatever they do, let us hope that they don’t hire fucking Joss Whedon. Or fucking Tom Cruise. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/29 "2010-05-31T20:05:10Z")
Uwe Boll? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/30 "2010-05-31T20:06:09Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Or fucking Tom Cruise. Are you kidding? Tom Cruise would be perfect as a hobbit. Let’s just get Whedon to do the script and Lynch to direct. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/31 "2010-05-31T20:08:39Z")
I think the grumbling of the Hobbit fundies who want every scene from the book put in the movie can be safely ignored as I’m guessing most movie goers will not have read the book. The two picture move is IMO simply financial. The LOTR films were such moneymakers they would stretch the Hobbit to 3 pics if they could get away with it. In a two film deal where do the Hobbit aficionados think the natural stopping place is for the first film per the chapters below? [1] An Unexpected Party [2] Roast Mutton [3] A Short Rest [4] Over Hill And Under Hill [5] Riddles in the Dark [6] Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire [7] Queer Lodgings [8] Flies and Spiders [9] Barrels Out of Bond [10] A Warm Welcome [11] On the Doorstep [12] Inside Information [13] Not At Home [14] Fire and Water [15] The Gathering of the Clouds [16] A Thief in the Night [17] The Clouds Burst [18] The Return Journey [19] The Last Stage ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/32 "2010-05-31T20:18:39Z")
There is an awful lot of action in _The Hobbit_, so I don’t have a problem with making two films out of it. Face it: most movies are more like short stories (“can be read in one sitting”) than novels. That’s why single movies made from novels are generally so unsatisfying to fans of the book. Re: a break point, I would end the first movie with the Dwarves all captive in the Elf King’s dungeon for a nice cliff-hanger. Either that, or right after the escape (I don’t need spoiler tags here, do I?) with the barrels floating down the river. Either way, the action from there on really constitutes the final, longest “episode” of the story…TRM ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/33 "2010-05-31T20:20:21Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Or fucking Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise would make a great Bilbo. Bah! Beaten to it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/34 "2010-05-31T20:45:50Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Sorry, but this statement produces genuine cognitive dissonance in me. I read the words, I know they’re in English, but I can’t make them make sense. My apologies. I wish they made no sense to me too. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/35 "2010-05-31T21:04:55Z")
Apatow, Tarantino or Kevin Smith should make it. :o ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/36 "2010-05-31T22:09:11Z")
PJ will direct if he has to (thogh other commitments complicate things) > **[Peter Jackson may direct Hobbit](http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/3760208/Peter-Jackson-may-direct-Hobbit)** > > Sir Peter Jackson says he will step into the breach and direct The Hobbit himself if it's the only way to ensure the film is made. Brian ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/37 "2010-05-31T22:37:38Z")
I thought you were talking about [Benicio Del Toro](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1212520960/nm0001125). ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/38 "2010-05-31T22:43:24Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Four words: David Lynch’s _The Hobbit_. I could not help trying to image that … However, it’s impossible. There are no women in The Hobbit, are there? Lynch would be wasted on a movie with no women; it would be just all weirdness and gore … ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/39 "2010-05-31T23:14:47Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Four words: David Lynch’s _The Hobbit_. I can work horror in nearly every CS-aficionado Doper with four words: Paul Verhoeven’s _The Hobbit_ ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332/40 "2010-06-01T06:13:18Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Reading the article it looks like Del Toro has run out of time and must do and schedule other professional commitments and can’t wait any longer. Guillermo gotta eat! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guillermo-del-toro-quits-the-hobbit/541332.md?page=3)