Guillermo Del Toro Says THE HOBBIT Is Not Greenlit, Not Currently Planned For 3D!

Beaks here...

Guillermo del Toro participated in a thirty-minute conference call today to help promote Vincenzo Natali's critically acclaimed SPLICE - which del Toro produced and which opens next Friday, June 4th (go see it!). Obviously, in light of today's MarketSaw report claiming that THE HOBBIT a) has been greenlit, b) will start shooting this November, and c) will be in 3D, del Toro was pressed for a confimation - especially since the Latino Review crew vehemently refuted MarketSaw's story. Here's the lowdown from the director of THE HOBBIT himself (responding to a question from Fred Topel)...

Q: We've been following your production of THE HOBBIT, and every time the production gets delayed. Do you know when you're actually going to start and get on set? Guillermo del Toro: There cannot be any start dates really until the MGM situation is resolved, because they do hold a considerable portion of the rights, and it's impossible to make a unilateral decision by New Line or Warners to give the greenlight to proceed. We really believe that things will be known after the fact of MGM's fate. Whether they stay and get supported, or they get bought, or they transfer some of the rights: nobody knows. We've been caught in a very tangled negotiation. Now I've been on the project for nearly two years. We have designed all the creatures; we have designed the sets and wardrobes; we have done animatics and planned very lengthy action sequences and scary sequences and funny sequences. We are very, very prepared for when it's finally triggered, but we don't know anything is sold.

Later in the interview, I asked this follow-up...

Q: The story that was reported earlier today that THE HOBBIT has been greenlit and will be shot in 3D, that is false? Del Toro: On both counts, there are no final answers. It is not greenlit. That is categorical. And 3D has been discussed literally once in the room. The budget and the schedule and everything that we are handling - the cost of the film, the number of days it would take to shoot - is being handled right now without looking towards 3D. Is there a chance it will become 3D in the future? Maybe. Right now, it's not being planned as such.

So there you have it. All we can do right now is hope that this MGM situation gets resolved speedily and cleanly. Until then, del Toro is working on his production slate at Universal, as well as the next chapter in THE STRAIN series. Stay tuned for the full transcript.