Guillermo Del Toro Opens Up On His Exit From The Hobbit

Last week we reported that Guillermo Del Toro would be vacating the directors chair for the upcoming Hobbit film due to continued delays with the film’s filming schedule and funding. It is news that broke the hearts of everyone looking forward to the film, but even more it seems to have truly broken the heart of Del Toro himself.

This weekend he spoke to Theonering.net and gave the a little more insight into his decision and why he felt he had to go the way he did. Check out his comments below and cross your fingers that Jackson can find someone else to fill those massive shoes and that Del Toro can find a new project to fill the that The Hobbit leaves behind.

My commitment to the project demanded enormous sacrifices both in personal and professional terms. The consequences of which will ripple for years. I relocated my entire life and family to New Zealand and first came on board in 2008. So – while the cited delays, contractual complexities or obstacles, cannot be attributed to a single event or entity – you will simply have to believe that they were of sufficient complexity and severity to lead to the current situation. Trust me on this, leaving NZ and the Hobbit crew is extremely painful. As stated before- a wealth of designs, animatics, boards and sculptures is left behind representing accurately my ideas for Mirkwood, Spiders, Wargs, Stone Trolls, etc, etc and everyone (PJ, FW, PB and myself) has the same goal in mind: to try and ensure the best possible transition of the movie to a new director.

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Perhaps even sooner than we may anticipate we will all look at the finished film and then – I will tear up whenever I recognize a set or a creature or a quirk created under my supervision. Everyone on these boards will get two movies. Me? I will be watching filmic family albums. Photos of my children from far away. I hope you will understand how delicate the subject is for me.

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I am not here, however, to provide a blow-by-blow of what happened, but to assure you, as I have, that it has been the toughest situation of my life…Beyond that- I am simply no longer an official voice for these projects. Be good, be well- and I invite you all to follow me into the next phase of my filmmaking journey.

Sincerely

GDT