When news broke over the weekend that Guillermo del Toro was abandoning his post as director of The Hobbit, everyone looked to Peter Jackson, expecting that he’d simply take over and direct the thing himself, as he probably should have all along. But it was only a matter of hours before Jackson’s management made it clear in no uncertain terms that he’d never be anything other than a producer on the film. I guess they forgot to relay this decision to Peter.
Talking to the Dominion Post Peter Jackson revealed that he could end up directing the movie, if it becomes necessary. He says, “If that's what I have to do to protect Warner Bros' investment, then obviously that's one angle which I'll explore.” This assumes that it’s even possible. He explains, “The other studios may not let me out of the contracts.”
We assume those "other contracts" he's referring to must mean Tintin, Jackson's committed to direct the third in a trilogy being kicked off by Steven Spielberg, for some reason. There's also some mysterious, smaller project his manager hinted at while declaring he'd never be involved in The Hobbit. But Tintin has Spielberg, does it really need Peter Jackson? And the third Tintin movie seems so far off, it's hard to believe that Jackson couldn't sequeeze in at least one Hobbit movie while Spielberg finishes up the first two, if he really wants to do it. The thing is, it still doesn't sound like he really wants to.
Confirmation that Jackson's even considering handling another LOTR installment may seem like good news, but do we really want a begrudging Peter Jackson who directs another Middle Earth movie only because he has to? Lord of the Rings worked because he had a passion for the material. For whatever reason, this certainly doesn’t sound like a man who’s passionate about making The Hobbit into a movie. If he does it, it’ll only be a money decision, a decision made because he has no other choice. I’m not sure what happened to PJ after he left Middle Earth, but he talks like a man who's been raped by a Balrog. His love for Tolkien seems to have disappeared along with his rotund, hobbit-like belly.
And this is a blow to LOTR dorks everywhere. IMO he is better than Jackson, as a film maker. I think he would have taken the Hobbits boring-ass story and really kicked it up a notch.
