McAvoy as Bilbo Baggins?

The Daily Express is reporting that James McAvoy (Atonement, Wanted) is the top of Guillermo del Toro's list of actors to play the young Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. The nature of the source is unknown but the chat session from a little over a week ago does back at least the idea that del Toro is already at work on a short list of actors to play the role, "I can tell you it's down to a few names that we all agree upon. For our first choice, completely magically we all have the same name." Of course he never said who their names was so for now this goes into the rumor category and will probably remain there for the next year until the script phase is complete.

Jackson and del Toro Fan Chat Party

Over the weekend Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro participated in a chat party attended by over 6000 fans who asked around 7000 questions. Of those, the pair answered about 60.

Weta Holics has the full chat transcript here or download the PDF here.

The highlights basically in question order:
- Special effects will be used but as del Toro said, " love REAL set construction and think that sets are very important part of the storytelling and scope of a film..." and plans to stick with New Zealand for the entire film.
- Ian Holm may return in the role of Bilbo Baggins but will finalize the decision once have a script.
- Howard Shore will return to score the films. (Sweet!)
- In regards to horror and violence del Toro answered "I hope that Mirkwood can be pretty scary but not graphic, I hope Riddles in the dark has an element of fear and suspense and to be deeply atmospheric but still allow the ingenious, engaging contest to take place. And Smaug should be all shock and awe when he unleashes his anger so, it will be pretty intense but not gory."
- Blu-Ray discs of the trilogy are in the works but will not be out this year.
- Someone suggested Ron Perlman (Hellboy) for Smaug the dragon but del Toro said that while a possibility he has other plans for the actor.
- Jackson is hoping to be able to rebuild Hobbiton in the same location but "bigger and even better."
- The Gandalf "gaps" (do to tendency to wander in and out of the narrative of the novel) might be filled in during the second movie.
- No plans as yet for doing the film in 3-D.
- Movie game plan:
2008: Write films and work on early conceptual designs.
2009: Pre-production, casting of the movies
2010: Shoot films back to back.
2011: Post production and release of first film
2012: Post production and release of the second film
- Jackson chose del Toro because "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!"
- Indicated the movies will be collaboration up to a point but at the end of the day the director wins because "you should never force a director to shoot something they don't believe in."
- Aiming for an "intense PG-13" rating for both films.
- In regards to a future extended edition of the films (should own if you don't), Jackson said "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... whether there will be an extended edition of the Hobbit will depend entirely on the final theatrical cut and what we have left over."
- In regards to the crew of the various effects departments, they "will utilize as many of the original elements as possible."
- To early to tell if Legolas will be seen in Mirkwood.
- Even though beasts didn't talk in LOTR, the "talking beast motif" will likely be used.
- The tone of The Hobbit will be different then LOTR as it was not as dark a time so camera style, color palette and other choices will reflect that.
- Jackson said he did not intend to release the movie on the 10th Anniversary of the Fellowship but "will claim credit for the idea from this day forward." (a joke)
- Jackson said he would shoot second unit stuff if asked but it all depends on the script and how the shooting schedules work out.
- No title yet on the second movie.
- On who will write the scripts according to Jackson, "Guillermo will be writing, along with Fran, Philippa and myself."
- Have not yet made a decision on whether internet diaries will be done for the films (as Jackson did for King Kong).
- There will be an attempt to create a consistency between the new films and the trilogy while adding new themes and the like.
- Christopher Tolkien (grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien) will not be participating in the films. (Actually he is suing to try and block the films because of money and has been very critical that the films didn't follow the books exactly.)
- Gollum's role (and thus Andy Serkis') has yet to be fully defined, something that will be worked out in writing the scripts.
- The Hobbit will be contained in one movie and Silmarillion, LOTR appendices, and other sources will be used to bridge the 60 year gap between that film and the trilogy.
- Sticking with the Trilogy's 2:35:1 format and currently not planning to shoot in HD.
- Mirkwood Elves will be different from the Rivendell Elves but "I cannot reveal anymore"
- del Toro intends to "feature" Beorn in the films rather then giving him "the Tom Bombadil treatment."
- del Toro plans to keep some designs and do complete re-designs of others such as the Wargs and the Goblins.
- Physical miniatures and matte paintings will be used in the arsenal of effects for the films. (Nice)
- Will use all 13 dwarves and try to make then distinct from each other in character.
- When casting does start, "Unequivocally, every single actor that originated a role in the Trilogy will be asked to participate and reprise it. If Health, availability or willingness become obstacles – and only in that case recasting would be considered." (Should make financial arrangements interesting since this means the actors will have the leverage).

First Guillermo del Toro Interview

The One Ring has posted one of the first interviews with The Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro where he discusses how he became involved in the project and some of the preliminary plans for the films.

From the site:

How did this whole process get started?
GDT: I met Peter (Jackson) a long time ago when we were planning on doing ‘Halo’ together, I really love how they have that setup in New Zealand, I call it ‘Hollywood the way God intended it’. New Zealand has all the technical advantages when doing a big movie and you are shooting it in paradise, both in terms of artistic freedom and commitment.

When ‘Halo’ didn’t happen, Peter and I stayed in contact on a regular basis, and last winter I started getting inklings that ‘The Hobbit’ may come this way, mainly from the studio. The first thing I said was that I would only be interested if Peter was involved and the (New Line Lawsuit) problem gets resolved. When that issue was resolved I got a call from Peter and we chatted, and it started from then, it was my Christmas gift!

Fans are all abuzz about ‘The Second Film’, can you tell some of your plans for it?
GDT: You know, I traveled to New Zealand just a little while ago, and one of the main reasons for going was to sit down and talk about the second film. ‘The Hobbit’, the book, is really one self-contained film, so for the second movie we sat down and worked it out. When we did this we got really excited because this second film is not a ‘tag on’, it’s not ‘filler’, it’s an integral part of telling the story of those 50 years of history lost in the narrative. There will be certain things that we will see from the first movie but from a different point of view, but it will feel like a volume, in the 5 volumes of the entire story. It will not feel like a bridge, I’ve been hearing it called ‘a bridge film’, it’s not, it’s an integral chapter of the story, and I think we’re all on the same page.

You will be moving down to New Zealand for 4 years, is that right?
GDT: Approximately, my whole family, but the first stages of design and R&D will be done with me going back and fourth from LA and New Zealand because there are a lot of things I need to put to bed before I finally move to New Zealand. I’m going much sooner than my relatives would like!

We will officially be doing a lot of prep on ‘The Hobbit’ this summer, there is so much to do, its amazing. Just the reforestation of The Shire, re planting all those trees and plants will take months, and we’re going to be as exact as possible.

Films like ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ used a few studio sets to simulate outdoors, will you be doing the same for ‘The Hobbit’ or will you be making use of New Zealand’s wilderness like Peter did?
GDT: I think green screen photography is exactly like CGI, it is a tool, I don’t think it should be overused. Things like ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ and ‘The Devil’s Backbone’ are incredibly dependent on location, we shot on location for more than half the time. Those locations can be enhanced by technology however, both digital and physical. What I would like to avoid is the recreation of the natural environments in CG, I don’t like doing that. The movie is essentially a journey movie, I think you need to use locations as much as possible.

You’ll be using WETA Digital for the effects?
GDT: Yes, the essential elements for keeping continuity are on track, in the last few weeks I’ve been chatting with a ton of people via email, phone, and in person from the previous films. People like Andy Serkis, Sir Ian McKellen, Howard Shore, John Howe, Gino Acevedo, Richard Taylor next week I’m meeting Alan Lee. I’m doing this to ensure that whatever we do we keep continuity with the other films, yes it’s a world that is slightly more golden at the beginning, a very innocent environment.

What I’m trying to do is keep the elements in place but allow you to feel a progression from ‘The Hobbit’ until ‘The Return of the King’. I believe ‘The Hobbit’ is a very crucial volume in The Lord of the Rings, it is a narrative that starts out very much in an innocent and golden way. It is permeated from England going through World War One, so there is a loss of innocence and a darker tone as the book and the film progresses. We’ll be doing that in the first film, taking you from a time of more purity to a darker reality throughout the film, but I think that is in the spirit of the book. All these guys, Alan Lee, John Howe, these guys are integral for us to map out that progress in the two movies, and allow you to completely blend in to the universe that is already in place. But this will be a progression, it should not feel at the start of the film that this is the same time (as the beginning of ‘Fellowship’). 50 years in Shire time, is not the same as 50 years in human time, if you think about how our world has changed in only 7 or 8 years, you can think of it as decades of turmoil, those 50 years in Middle-earth.

Do you have any roles cast?
GDT: Well, I had the most charming meeting with Sir Ian, and all bureaucracy pending, he’s on board, as is Andy Serkis. We will continue giving you progress reports as the occur. It is our intention that we will not lose any of the key elements.

What will differ from your films versus Peter’s?
The only thing I will be pushing for more in these films that the other three are full animatronics and animatronic creatures enhanced with CGI, as opposed to CGI creatures themselves. We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap ten years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for virtual reality.

Another thing people will notice, at the beginning of the film will be the palette, that will be slightly different, the world will be the same but it will be a more ‘golden’ world, a more wide-eyed world. But by no means will we depart from the canon, we will take the three previous films as canon. When I become part of a world that I love, such as this, I really come with a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, and we know we are recreating and creating a world that is part of the mythos of millions of people and we will approach it as passionately and respectfully as it needs to be taken.

The Hobbit Information So Far

In an effort to catch everyone up on The Hobbit happenings, here is a summary of the information out there so far.

- Two films are planned. One is the based on "The Hobbit" book and the other fills in the gap from the end of The Hobbit and beginning of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
- The estimated budget for each film is $150 million and will be filmed together.
- The planned release dates are December 2011 for the first film and December 2012 for the second.
- Peter Jackson will executive produce the movies but will not direct.
- Guillermo del Toro, of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy, is directing the movie. He was handpicked by Jackson.
- The films are expected to be written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens who wrote the LOTR films.
- del Toro has indicated that he is hoping to get Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) to reprise their roles.
- Pre-production is expected to start soon despite not having a script do to time to construct sets, props and so forth.
- Just like with LOTR, the films will be produced in New Zealand with WETA doing the effects.

Welcome

Hello! Welcome my new blog. In the tradition of the Transformers Live Action Blog, this one will post about the various news that comes out about the Hobbit films that is planned to come out in 2010 and 2011.