Naturally of course, the first name on everyone's list to replace Guillermo Del Toro as director on at least the first
Hobbit movie at WB/New Line is
Peter Jackson. The cinematic Middle-Earth is his legacy, the
LOTR movie franchise our generation's
Star Wars. The more you consider the situation, the more you realise there is no other choice. Jackson and his usual writing team (
Philippa Boyens/Fran Walsh) alongside Del Toro have simply invested too much of their personal vision into the project for someone new to come in and not look like an asshole. You truly feel like it's Jackson's or no-one's at this point, and maybe he knows it too. Speaking to the
New Zealand's Dominion Post today, Jackson refuses to rule out the possibility of him directing, but at the same time doesn't sound all that convincing that it will, or even
could happen...
"If that's what I have to do to protect Warner Bros.' investment, then obviously that's one angle which I'll explore....... "The other studios may not let me out of the contracts."
The stumbling block is Jackson is tied into shooting two animated
Tintin movies at Paramount, Dreamworks and Columbia - the two sequels to Steven Spielberg's
Tintin: The Secrets of the Unicorn that opens next December. With three massive Hollywood studio's financially invested in the trilogy, there simply ain't no way Jackson could get out of it shooting his first contribution next year, even if he wanted to. And at the end of the day he probably doesn't want to. If he did, why would he ever give up the
LOTR series to Del Toro in the first place in order to play second fiddle to Spielberg's own passion project? Yesterday
Jackson's manager told Anne Thompson the same thing...
"he has and has had other commitments and obligations to other projects. That said, he and Fran will stop at nothing to protect this franchise and the investment made by New Line, Warners and MGM. will turn his attention to Tintin 2 in the new year.
So as of right now, everything is still up in the air. It's said Jackson has already begun to shortlist potential directors to replace Del Toro but the problems at MGM won't go away no matter who Jackson gives the reigns to (including himself), and hitting that Dec 2012 release date seems highly improbable right now. Jackson said yesterday to the New Zealand paper...
"The key thing is that we don't intend to shut the project down. We don't intend to let this affect the progress. Everybody, including the studio, wants to see things carry on as per normal. The idea is to make it as smooth a transition as we can."