Guillermo del Toro was supposed to shoot at the “Hobbit”: that’s why he left at the last minute

Nowadays Peter Jackson’s trilogy is seen “Hobbit” as the natural continuation of the Lord of the Rings. But initially not Jackson, but Guillermo del Toro, responsible for the film adjustment of the cult book of Tolkien. The director of the Labyrinth Faun and Hellboy worked on the project for two years before he suddenly left him.

How it all started

Plans to film the “Hobbit” appeared in the nineties, but problems with rights in bragging development for a decade. During this time, Jackson left and the Triumphal trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” released.

• In April 2008, Del Toro became official director of the Hobbit.
• He worked in a tight band with Jackson and a scenario group.
• Initially the film was planned as a story from two parts, not a trilogy.

The director wanted to create a visually different story – closer to a fairy tale than to the epic “Lord of the Rings”. He discussed the script for hours with Jackson, found design and aesthetics invented, carried out a large scale research. Fans later complained that it was his version that the Hobbit could give a more distinctive tone.

What went wrong

The biggest problem was constant delays.

• The financial crisis of MGM in the mid -2000s stopped production.
• The studio officially only gave the green light in May 2010.
• By that time, work had passed for two years and Del Toro had terminated the conditions of the contract.

As a result, the director was forced to leave not to cancel other projects. His name remained in the credits as one of the screenwriters, but Peter Jackson took the chairman of the director.

“We have developed everything into the smallest detail, but it was impossible to continue while MGM I did not solve my company, “Del Toro admitted later.