LOS ANGELES - Guillermo del Toro is directing "The Hobbit" and its sequel, New Line Cinema announced Thursday. The 43-year-old filmmaker will move to New Zealand for four years to make the films back-to-back with executive producer Peter Jackson.
Del Toro wrote and directed "Pan's Labyrinth," which earned six Oscar nominations in 2006 and won three awards. He is also the director of the upcoming sequel "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," whose monsters bear the unmistakeable surreal vision of the Mexican-born filmmaker.
The downside is obviously that if del Toro's in New Zealand for the next four years, that puts the kibosh on a potential Hellboy trilogy for a long time.
But on the upside, this is going to be freakin' awesome. And I might as well shill "Pan's Labyrinth" while I'm at it. Go see it and you'll see why del Toro's "Hobbit" will be largely hyped.
Good news. Del Toro's pretty great. The Devil's Backbone is one of my favorite films ever.
--K
Last 5 movies seen: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1955) ***1/2 - The Undying Monster **1/2 - The Savages ***1/2 - It Came From Beneath the Sea *** - Invaders From Mars ***
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Oh, man, are these ratings hard to find. The only way you find out about late night ratings are if a network does a press release about it, and they only do that if there's something good to say.