Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro Hold a 'Hobbit' Online Chat
A massive transcript for you to sink your teeth into
RSG1050: Mr. del Toro, have you started keeping a notebook of sketches on this film yet?
Guillermo del Toro: I have started already and shared some of the design a=ideas with Alan Lee and John Howe during a very excited lunch in London.
RobbieM: Will Ian McKellen return as Gandalf?
Guillermo del Toro: Absolutely!!
Peter Jackson: Hi Robbie – absolutely
WETA Host: Dear Peter Jackson, I enjoyed your cameos in the Lord of the Rings movies, Will you have a cameo in this Hobbit, and what character would you like to play?
Peter Jackson: I actually haven't thought about it. My convention is to do cameos in films I direct. I don't know if that extends to films I produce. I guess we'll find out. I love Hobbits! I am a Hobbit, in very many respects, as were my parents. Tolkien wrote about a type of people he knew, in pre-war England, and somewhere along the line, he must have bumped into my relatives!
Guillermo del Toro: Unlike Peter, I'm a dwarf (a coarse creature I am) – but I studiously avoid cameos…
Jessalyn: When do you expect filming to begin?
Peter Jackson: Dear Jesslyn – at this point in time the plan is to write for the rest of this year and start early conceptual designs. 2009 will be dedicated to pre-production on both movies and 2010 will be the year we shoot both films back to back. Post production follows one film at a time with The Hobbit being released Dec 2011, and F2 release Dec 2012. That is the schedule in about as much detail as we have ourselves at the moment.
WETA Host: 16- Peter: What was it about Guillermo that made you feel he was the
right guy to continue on the saga of Middle-earth? Are the two of
you on the same page for the vision, direction, and style that these movies will have? If the two of you disagree on a point, who wins out?
Peter Jackson: I'll talk more about this in a later question, but watching his films, he has
respect for fantasy. He understands it, he's not frightened by it. Guillermo also understands character, and how the power of any movie is almost always linked to how closely we empathize with characters within the story. His work shows great care and love for the main characters he creates. He also has supreme confidence with design, and visual effects. So many film makers are scared of visual effects – which is no crime, but tough if you're doing one of these movies!
If we disagree, the director has to win, because you should never force a director to shoot something they don't believe in. But we're both reasonably practical and ego-free, and I believe that if we disagree, we both have the ability to express our differing theories – state our case, like lawyers – and between us, work out what's best for the movie.
Eriol: So what age rating are you aiming at?
Peter Jackson: Hi Eriol – the rating will be the same as the Trilogy, PG13 on both movies
Guillermo del Toro: An intense PG-13…
Reguba: Will the Hobbit get an extended edition like Lord of the Rings?
Peter Jackson: Dear Reguba – interesting Q. The truth (and this is the truth) is that you don't plan for extended editions up front an extended edition is the result of left over scenes that have been deleted out of theatrical cut. In an ideal world the script is written lean and tight and therefore there are no scenes left on the cutting room floor and therefore no extended edition. However when writing 3 epic Lord of the Rings films there was no way we could keep the writing process as lean, so the extended edition was a result of seeing our thought process during the writing and shooting play itself out on screen with scenes we no longer needed when we finally cut the films together. Whether there will be an extended edition of the Hobbit will depend entirely on the final theatrical cut and what we have left over.
Guillermo del Toro: That one is REALLY too early to answer… but being a DVD freak (now a B-Ray freak) I think that if you have enough alternative material you can make it accessible on DVD (or B-R) format… Is not a priori that one decides this.
WETA Host: 15 – Will you be using the same production team i.e. Special effects, art directors, cinematographers, composer etc..
Guillermo del Toro: Many of them will be back. I will supplement the FX departments, the design departments (with very interesting names), but the crew will utilize as many of the original elements as possible.
elffan9: Will we be seeing Legolas in Mirkwood?
Guillermo del Toro: We all think that this is a very interesting idea but the scripts are in process so- sorry,.. too early to tell.
WETA Host: In the Hobbit book, we have talking trolls and the Eagles and Smaug talks as well, however in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, trolls did no more than grunt, Fellbeasts screamed, and the Eagles, who were meant to talk, just stayed silent. How much will the portrayal of such animals change in the Hobbit?
Guillermo del Toro: 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.
Yetzi: did you start casting for the 13 dwarves?
Guillermo del Toro: Nope- no casting has started yet, but some people have thrown their helmet in the ring.
Peter Jackson: Hi Yetzi – no casting has commenced and won't until the scripts are written. We have had chats with one or two of the Lord of the Rings actors however but the casting will be driven largely by the writing and it is impossible to cast 13 dwarves without knowing their personality and characters. We anticipate we won't be in serious casting mode for these movies until well into next year.
WETA Host: Hi. Do you intend to play this one by the Book (The Hobbit that is) and make it a very light children's tale on film, or do you plan to stick with the much darker treatment- in keeping with the Lord of the Rings films – particularly the latter ones. My personal preference would be for the latter – cannot see how e.g. the Rivendell Elves could regress from their nobility in Lord of the Rings to those "…Tra-la-la-la…." singing versions which wer in the Hobbit Book. Thank you.
Guillermo del Toro: We'll see about the "Tra-la-la-" later- but the book, I believe, in echoing the "loss of innocence" England experienced after WWI, is a passage from innocence to a darker, more somber state- The visual / thematic progression should reflect that in the camera style, color palette, textural choices, etc.
Peter Jackson: As I said earlier, I personally feel that The Hobbit can, and should have a different tone. The "tone" of these stories shouldn't be defined by the pressure our characters were under in Lord of the Rings. The world is a different place at the time of the Hobbit. The shadow is not so dark. However, what should stay the same is the reality of Middle-earth, and the integrity we bring to it as filmmakers.
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