Hollywood director Guillermo del Toro said on Monday that production delays have forced him to quit the planned film version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, a two-part prequel to New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson’s blockbuster trilogy Lord of the Rings.
“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life,” Del Toro told a Lord of the Rings fan website. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures,” he said, noting the film still hadn’t been given the green light by MGM.
Matt Dravitzki, a spokesman for Hobbit producer and Lord Of The Rings director Jackson, said Del Toro would not be speaking to reporters on Monday. The announcement by Del Toro reflected Jackson and Del Toro’s “full sentiments at this time,” he said.
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Homer is ‘greatest TV character’
London: Cartoon character Homer Simpson from The Simpsons has been named the greatest character created for TV and film in the past 20 years. In the survey, conducted by US magazine, people ranked Harry Potter in the second position.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer landed the third spot, reports the Sun.
Tony Soprano and The Joker filled the remaining two spots to complete top five. —ANI