Guillermo del Toro, who directed Hellboy II — which just came out on DVD (and Blu-ray) — is currently involved in a bunch of fantasy movie projects: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Slaughterhouse-Five, At the Mountains of Madness — and The Hobbit:
Del Toro, who always carries a notebook so he can make character notes, sketch creatures and develop shot ideas, says he won’t travel with his Hobbit notebook for fear of exposing his secret vision for the film to the world.“With something as big as The Hobbit, if I were to lose that notebook, there would be legal hell to pay,” he said. “So, I have a safe place for that one, and it stays there.”
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After getting his kids off to school every morning in Los Angeles, del Toro sits down to write Hobbit for two hours. Afterward, he’ll deal with whatever project is on the agenda — whether he’s serving as a producer, writer and/or director for the film in development.“Not every movie needs my attention at the same time every day,” del Toro said. “So, I deal with the film in front of me — one at a time. The secret is to compartmentalize. As long as you’re only working 12 hours a day, it’s OK.”
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Someday, del Toro will be sitting down to record commentaries for the two Hobbit movies he’s writing and directing for producer and Oscar winner Peter Jackson. He said he’s in close communication with the original Lord of the Rings director daily, whether it’s by phone, via video conference or after a 14-hour flight to New Zealand.There’s still plenty of Tolkien lore to hammer into shape for the screen.
“We envision The Hobbit as one film told in two chapters,” del Toro said. “We’re not looking at where we’ll separate the story yet because you have to look at the novel as one story.”
Del Toro must be closing in on wrapping the Hobbit script, though — he said he sees preproduction beginning in January.