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Who Will Direct The Hobbit, With Del Toro Moving On? Not Jackson, for Now

Soon after revealing that he was waiting for the dust to clear at MGM so he could get on with The Hobbit, Guillermo del Toro, one of Hollywood's hottest directors after Pan's Labyrinth and Hell Boy 2, is quitting The Hobbit because he can't keep his career on hold any longer; he's already been on the project for two years. He and The Hobbit co-writer-executive producer Peter Jackson made the announcement on May 30 at Theonering.net.

By Anne Thompson
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May 30, 2010 12:35 PM
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9 Comments

The Hobbit and Next James Bond Await MGM Picks to Run Studio

With MGM creditors calling the shots and debating the future of the studio with MGM management, the cold reality is that no one is going to buy MGM at the valuation the studio needs as it copes with its $3.7 billion debt load. Thus the next phase of MGM's reorganization will likely involve bringing in some entity to exchange some debt for equity and run the studio. Top of the list of possible partners are Spyglass, Summit and the guy who thought up this solution, Amir Malin of Qualia Capital, a private media and entertainment equity fund. He made an offer to infuse MGM with some $500 million to run a lean operation in hopes that the economy and Wall Street would eventually improve.

By Anne Thompson
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May 28, 2010 6:22 AM
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McAvoy Joins X-Men, Polley's Take This Waltz, Newsweek's New Look

- Director Matthew Vaughn has cast Wanted star James McAvoy to play the role of the young Charles Xavier (created by Patrick Stewart) in Fox's next X-Men installment, the origin story X-Men: First Class. We like The Playlist's casting suggestion of Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) to play Xavier's evil opposition, Magneto (originally Ian McKellen).

By Sophia Savage
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May 28, 2010 4:12 AM
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Mortensen Open to Role in The Hobbit

Viggo Mortensen mentioned the possibility of appearing in the Peter Jackson/Guillermo del Toro production of J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit while accepting the Jameson Empire Icon Award Monday night in London:

By Anne Thompson
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March 31, 2009 6:40 AM
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Hobbit Watch: Del Toro's the Right Guy

Well, the Hobbit shoe has finally dropped, and Guillermo del Toro has committed to direct the movie for New Line Cinema. There is rejoicing throughout the land, I suspect. If it wasn't going to be Peter Jackson (who is exec producing with Fran Walsh), Pan's Labyrinth helmer Del Toro is just about a perfect match for this J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy. It will be cool.