The Real Reason Guillermo Del Toro Left The Hobbit

When Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy first came out, it was thought to be a perfect adaptation of the famous book written by J.R.R. Tolkien. When talks of going back and adapting the Hobbit, it seemed director Guillermo Del Toro was a perfect match to bring Middle Earth back to life. But as things turn out, Del Toro would soon leave the project after months of work, and Peter Jackson would step back into the directors chair for the Hobbit Trilogy we know today.

#thehobbit #lordoftherings #nerdstalgic

Written by Dave Baker
Edited by Nick Murphy

[mbogucki]

Somewhere, in the multiverse, there is an Oscar winning 3 hour Hobbit film directed by Guillermo Del Toro with a cameo from Ron Perlman.

[haileybalmer]

The way he put it when I saw him live was like this: he had a daughter at home, she was getting older, and they kept trying to tack extra years into the project. He was reluctantly okay with it being two movies, but three was too many. He felt like he was going to miss his daughter’s entire childhood, so he said, one movie. They said three. He said okay, but you’ll be doing it without me. They thought he was bluffing. He told them to call Peter Jackson and apologize, then he went home to spend time with his kid.

[djinconroe]

"The new trilogy would be prepared in just 3 months..."

It really, really showed.

[originaozz]

I feel a deeper respect for Peter Jackson's now as him taking on the role in such a rush timeline would also save a lot of his crew jobs. Even when the end result wasn't best as it could have been, that still count for something.

[maevtr]

Del Toro leaving this project, and also by proxy leaving the mountains of madness to work on this, is one of the greatest tragedies in film. We missed out on an amazing series of movies

[StewartFletcher]

Jackson's fluctuating weight makes me so sad. You can see the toll The Hobbit took on him and it's just heartbreaking.

[rileydavidson]

I think something people also miss is that you can see how it low it brought jackson. He looks physically and mentally drained in a lot of the behind the scenes after he took over. They didn't just ruin 3 movies but they nearly broke a man. His weight loss, they way he holds himself, he look he has on his face and in his eyes. It's really upsetting

[maybecole]

I feel if they had let Peter have the time with pre-production like they did with LOTR, these films would have turned out much different. Shame he was thrown in and put under immense pressure.

[Borzogo]

I always thought Jackson had lost his touch, it's bittersweet to learn that was not the issue. What a missed opportunity, we lost not only a del Toro version but also a proper Jackson version of The Hobbit.

[ramshacklerozza]

Honestly, because I’m unsure of what GdT’s version would’ve been like I’ll say this: I would’ve rather waited four more years for the perfected vision of Peter Jackson’s movies. But no, the studios in charge as always are so impatient that they believe that people won’t see movies so highly anticipated in a few more years.
They didn’t trust in the ones in charge of making the magic real and the didn’t trust the love the fans had and still have for the source material. Most importantly, they disregarded the love that Tolkien’s heart poured into the books.

[thomaskuzma]

you bet your bottom dollar he shoulda stayed. The Hobbit movies broke Peter Jackson, and when we could have had TinTin 2, we are now stuck with a man crushed from the weight of studio executives.

[jasonschlierman]

This story is a textbook example of why the studio system as it exists today and modern copyright law have become counterproductive for the creative process. It wasn't always that way (completely), but it's gotten to a very bad place and only getting worse. Something must give at some point.

I feel bad for both Del Toro and Jackson. Both were put in bad positions and as much as fans mock "The Hobbit" films, I say they were fantastic when one considers the pains behind the scene that forged them. They are not nearly as good at "The Lord of the Rings" films, but that trilogy had years to be shaped and crafted while "The Hobbit" didn't. It's a miracle that any part of "The Hobbit" is even decent. Further, while I understand why investors wanted it this way, turning "Hobbit" into a trilogy was stupid. It really hurt the films stretching the story out like that. Oh well, at least "Hobbit" is better than "Rings of Power."

[blythebrumleve]

The downfall of Hollywood can be explained from pointing to the patience of creating The Lord of the Rings to the urgency of creating The Hobbit to the inexperience of creating Rings of Power.

[FlackNCoke]

Guillermo Del Toro’s Hobbit will forever be remembered as one of the great pieces of never made media. Somewhere in the multiverse it exists and it’s a masterpiece, along with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 and David Lynch’s Return of the Jedi.

[brandonface]

These films could have been so much more if studios don't look for that quick dollar. Tolkien's work deserves as much love and care than it got. This mindset studios have has only gotten worse. Rings of Power is a prime example of it

[captainmacmellon]

The fact that this films are still somewhat watchable with actual decent moments showd that there was passion in these films which just makes it even sadder. Toro was the prefect choice for director

[knightinashes]

I guess someone just watched the new Mr. Sunday Movies video

[sajunbecker]

I've thought about it quite a lot over the last twelve years and I still mourn the Guillermo del Toro Hobbit films we never got.

I think del Toro's dark fairy tale sensibilities in partnership with the more grounded and earthy influence of John Howe and Alan Lee and a loving, practical effects-heavy production from WETA would have created something warm, timeless, and magical.

I know the Hobbit trilogy we got was directed under duress from Jackson in unideal circumstances but those movies still haven't grown on me and they're pretty soulless and hollow. Amazon's The Rings of Power is (so far) even less charming than the version of The Hobbit we got.

I think the conditions that allowed The Lord of the Rings trilogy to happen the way it did simply don't exist anymore, although I've seen flickers of that magic in projects like The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Dune (2021), and The Northman.

[cottonfluff]

Dang, greedy studios hit once again in the gut of creativity, prioritizing money over the humans who make the magic happen.

[myfuneralismytimetoshine]

To be honest you can see hints of De Toro's style, tone and aesthetic in the first movie. That is why is the best out of the three.