Those were the days.
Now that we’ve had a few hours to absorb the shocking news that Guillermo del Toro has dropped out of “The Hobbit” director chair, it’s time to seriously start thinking about who will take his place. Producer Peter Jackson has reportedly said that he won’t take the reins, though I suspect that could change if he couldn’t find someone to his liking.
HitFix has a list of seventeen possible candidates. I’ll give you the bare bones list, but visit here to get the whole HitFix breakdown about who is realistically available and who is right for the gig. Here’s the list:
Steven Spielberg
Tim Burton
Alfonso Curaon
Robert Zemeckis
Gore Verbinski
Andrew Adamson
Sam Raimi
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Joe Wright
Danny Boyle
Timur Bekmambetov
Ang Lee
Neill Blomkamp
Paul Greengrass
Francis Lawrence
Bryan Singer
Neil Marshall
Okay, so there are some names for you, including the one I suggested yesterday, Neill Blomkamp. I forgot about Sam Raimi–I’d still trust him with it. HitFix thinks that if he didn’t win the gig the first time, it’s unlikely he’ll be offered it now, but I don’t know. There’s such a thing as a close second place.
Andrew Adamson might be interesting, so might Joe Wright. Some of the super big names would probably not be interested in the collaboration that Jackson would demand. Just because Spielberg and Jackson are making Tintin movies doesn’t mean they are really working closely together. Tim Burton has his vision and wouldn’t likely meld it with Jackson’s. Robert Zemeckis, same thing. Watch, it will end up being someone we’ve never heard of.
You’d think there would have to be a decision soon to keep this thing on track.
