GUILLERMO DEL TORO (LEFT) AND PETER JACKSON (RIGHT) ANSWER FANS’ QUESTIONS.

The live Internet chat “An Unexpected Party” between The Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro, producer Peter Jackson and thousands of excited fans lasted only one hour but offered a wealth of information about the upcoming film(s).

(more…)

IMAGE COURTESY OF WETA

It’s called “An Unexpected Party” and we’re all invited. The Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson have asked fans to participate in a Q&A session via live chat on the Internet to discuss the upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel.

(more…)

As has long been rumored, Hellboy II: The Golden Army director Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh’s two-part production of The Hobbit for New Line-MGM. You can read the AP story here.

Shooting could begin next year, with the films coming out in 2011 and ‘12.

Del Toro is expected to move to New Zealand, where Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed, for the next four years — but not until after he wraps post-production on Hellboy II.

Guillermo del Toro is going to Middle-earth — and he’s taking us back with him!

• It’s official: The Hollywood Reporter reports that Guillermo del Toro will direct The Hobbit, the long-awaited prequel to Peter Jackson’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jackson will stay on as producer. Del Toro’s genre credits are impressive: Blade II, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and its forthcoming sequel and an expected adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s chilling short story At the Mountains of Madness.

• A Los Angeles Times interview reveals that the fourth season of Doctor Who will probably premiere here in April on The Sci Fi Channel, and with it The Sarah Jane Adventures. David Tennant returns as the Time Lord known as the Doctor, and for the premiere (always a Christmas episode) he is joined by British pop star Kylie Minogue. Comedian Catherine Tate then begins travelling full time in the TARDIS, a time ship in the shape of a police box that is bigger on the inside than on the outside. Sarah Jane, a spinoff starring former traveling companion Elizabeth Sladen as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, is a more kid-friendly take on the Whoniverse than previous spinoff Torchwood, which airs on BBC America. Pictured above: David Tennant and Elizabeth Sladen in Doctor Who.

• Speaking of Sci Fi, the network announced it has picked up Sanctuary, a scripted (!) high-def Web series starring and co-created by Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis star Amanda Tapping. Filming is set for March.
• Also speaking of Sci Fi, that network and The History Channel both debuted dueling ‘UFO Hunters’ shows - on the same day and in the time slot. Spooky!
• Lego turned 50.
• Last weekend, thousands of comic book fans, cosplay enthusiasts and many celebrities descended upon Mesa Convention Center for Phoenix Cactus Comicon 2008.

Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have finally kissed and made up. And that means that there will be a big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit after all. A two-part movie to be shot simultaneously, in fact.

The studio announced the good news today. Jackson will produce but it’s not yet clear whether he will direct.

Let’s hope they can get Ian McKellen (kindly wizard Gandalf), Ian Holm (reluctant adventurer Bilbo Baggins) and Hugo Weaving (wise elf Elrond) to reprise their roles from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And John Rhys-Davies could easily play Gloin, the father of his dwarf character Gimli in the previous outing. Beyond that, they could start with a blank casting slate and still make a go of it.

If all goes well, we should all be headed back to Middle-Earth in 2010. This truly is a terrific holiday gift for those who relished Jackson’s trilogy, which dominated the big screen and captured our imaginations in 2001-2003.