Guillermo del Toro: ‘I don’t like Hobbits’!?

Posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta

deltorohobbit1.jpg

Let me first say, I’m a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro and am very excited to see what he will be able to bring the Tolkien’s universe. That said I found the following quote from del Toro in an article on salon.com, talking about how he’s never had any interest in the Lord of the Rings genre of fantasy… wait, what?

“I was never into heroic fantasy. At all,” del Toro admitted during a 2006 Cannes interview. “I don’t like little guys and dragons, hairy feet, hobbits — I’ve never been into that at all. I don’t like sword and sorcery. I hate all that stuff.”

Huh? I’m confused. Why did del Toro sign on for this four-year two film commitment? What made him change his mind about an entire genre which he clearly seems “hate”? Again, I’m pretty sure he will make an incredible movie regardless, but I’m interested to know what happened in the last two years that changed his mind on the genre.

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Action/Adventure, Adaptation, New Line, Quotes, Sci-Fi, Sequels, Warner Brothers, , ,

  • Steelo
    due to previous article, I'll wait until the movie drops
  • Freddie
    Probably the chance to direct a GIGANTIC movie.
  • Surely what he said 2 years ago doesn't matter now?

    There is a more recent interview on theonering.net, report that :)
  • Liam, del toro does not get asked, nor does he discuss his dislike (or maybe previous dislike?) for tolkien in the new interview...
  • Clearly the huge amount of cash made him change his mind...
  • I'm a huge fan of del Toro, I firmly believe he's one of the best directors working today, but quite honestly, I'm not so sure what to think about this.
  • Peter, my point was that he said that 2 years ago, and things can change, which they obviously have.
  • Lucas
    Liam, he's saying that for the first 41 years of his life he has not only disliked but outright hated Tolkien's work, he also made an unquoted comment about how he could never finish lord of the rings. Could a man just change on a dime? yes. But it usually takes a lot, something huge, for something like that to happen. 41 years is a long time.
  • Richard Tassey
    Why in the world,would someone who said they hated the whole idea of hobbits and Tolkien's work,would they allow to do this movie.should have left it up to peter Jackson to say who is the one...Like me who grew up reading the whole fantasy based novels.I love all the fantasy movies and novels.Give them some respect and if he messes up, I will beat him straight to middle earth and give him to a bunch of no good worthless trolls
  • Ghost
    Yeah that's old news. Why resurface something that was past, if it's been a while since then? Obviously he's into it now since he signed for it, or at least got paid handsomely for it hah.
  • IronMonger
    Dudes, he went from hating the entire "heroic fantasy genre" to being quoted as saying "Contributing to the 'Lord of the Rings' legacy is an absolute dream come true." How can that be? I too think people can change but Lucas has a point. 41 years of hate turned on a dime sometime in the last 2 years. I would be interested in hearing del Toro explain why.
  • Honestly guys, I think it's perfectly fair to quote him on this, sure things can change, and it would be interesting to see if Guillermo will address this.
  • Pill
    Maybe he is excited about doing something different, something more challenging for himself on a personal level? Its what makes a good director, one whose not afraid to leave the comfort zone.

    I'm not entirerly sure what the point of posting this article was, the fact that he's signed on for a four year commitment to make the films says alot more then some off-hand comments from several years ago.
  • Lucas
    All these people sound like the right wing nuts who a few years ago were like "How dare you question the president's judgement", like it's a bad idea to ask questions... Fandom is like political support in ways that it results in extremely unintelligible comments like this. Guys, calm down, remember its still a good idea to ask questions. Don't worry, your movie will still be awesome.
  • The Dude
    Maybe he took the project on so he could do "his" version/vision of the genre. I mean, I hate those kind of films and books too. So it might be interesting to see what he does with the material.
  • Mike D
    Considering how much money the first films made Jackson I can see the logic behind del Toro's new found enthusiasm for Hobbits.
  • Captain Awesome
    I actually agree with what he said. It's what I don't like about most fantasy in film or even games, mainly because they're so generic. But that doesn't mean he can't take his dislikes and redesign something new to his likings does it?

    Many artists dislike things to which they end up revising or re-doing their own way. While Jackson used Lee as a concept artist in the LOTR films. He also pushed the classic designs Lee did and brought them to life. Don't take when an artist says he doesn't like something meaning he would never want to take a stab at it and make it "cool" in his or her eyes.

    This is how artists work.
  • Liam
    I heard Uwe Boll is available
  • Hendo
    I hope this doesn't mean that we're going to see "his spin" on the Hobbit... when directors say that things usually get changed for the worse... like when he talked about wanting to do Dr. Strange... he said he wanted to do his take on it and that Strange wouldn't be wearing the costume...
  • orange cinema
    @ peter

    i think this is absolutely a relevant quote to bring up. your site is about movie news, and the hobbit is one of the biggest films in development - therefore the news that the director has previously stated he hates this genre is VERY important to what will happen in the years to come. this calls gdt's integrity into play, will he be passionate about the film for $, or will he do it for the fans, what changed his mind, etc.... it's interesting to hear him say he dislikes fantasy, then have him make pans labrynth.(?!?!) and even though i love the director, i wanna know what's going on.
  • Alex

    I wish I were cool.

  • Listen folks. I love del Toro's stuff, and I enjoyed the animated Hobbit, and I have no doubt del toro will create two awesome new movies for the series... no doubt. But the quote is out there, it is accurate. I have deleted a couple comments claiming that the Slate would make up such a quote. The slate is one of the most highly respected online publications, and would never do that. It seems to me like a lot of fans would rather this quote not be true or not be relevant, but I think it is. What does it mean? probably nothing. Even if del toro doesn't like the series or hobbits, he will no doubt create an awesome movie. committing four years of his life is a huge deal. Worse case scenario is he did it for the money or he did it because he knows it will elevate his career to Spielberg-like levels. And even then the result won't be bad. But don't try to convince everyone that the quote is irrelevant or inaccurate, because its both accurate and relevant. :)

  • Alex

    @orange cinema - This is like a presidential campaign - just because he got the gig means they're going to dig up all kinds of old crap about him that he "might" have said and turns out to be incorrectly connected to him... Like I said, Just because he has that quote does NOT mean that he really hates it!! Stop turning something like this into inaccurate reporting!!

  • Alex
    Peter - This quote is NOT relevant, it is "real", and my statement below is NOT claiming it is false - it is pointing out the problems that you're bringing up by TRYING to turn this into NEWS when it ISN'T!

    Stop trying to dig up dirt Peter!! You really had nothing better to do than find an obscure quote from 2006 and throw it out there like Guillermo hates the world?? This is out of context and you don't even know why he was saying it, yet you’re trying to turn it into news and get hits out of it and that’s just ridiculous. You know better than this!

  • Alex, my good friend, your argument is weak. I'm not doing this for hits or attention (in fact, the slate is clearly sourced, so attention will be focused in their direction). I read the quote and was taken aback. I was shocked. And as much as it goes against my support for del Toro, I thought there would be enough readers who might also be interested in said quote. And yes, to ask the question what changed his mind about a whole entire genre of fantasy fiction is extremely relevant. Because basically it comes down to the reason why he wanted to make these movies, and thats the most important question of all.

  • Filmmaker89
    Peter,

    I agree, the reason why he would want to make these movies is the most important question, especially considering his last comments. I also found his comments interesting, keep up the great work!

    Ed
  • Captain Awesome
    oh god, now it's turned into a, SLASHFILM-DEL-TORO-GATE!
  • Flint
    I've never really been into fantasy or swords & sorcery type stuff either, and I found Tolkein's writing to be excruciating to try and get through. And yet I loved Jackson's movies. It's conceivable that someone else might as well. Perhaps he was also jazzed by what was done with the material, and the opportunity to work with Jackson in the same sandbox he created (or adapted, whatever).

    Del Toro obviously has a somewhat fantasy-prone imagination (despite the quote) -- look at "Pan's" or what we've seen of "Hellboy II". I sincerely doubt it's all about the money -- there are dozens of other things he could do instead if he just wanted to cash a paycheck, and they wouldn't take 4 years.
  • Sometimes having someone who's not heavily into a genre working in it can help refresh it. Just look at Nick Meyer doing Star Trek 2 & 6 - he hated sci-fi, and turned out arguably the two best films in the series.
  • Matthew
    I hate Sci-fi but I watch Doctor Who.
  • Jerry to the Biggy Butler
    How can he not like Hobbits? does the man not own a mirror?
  • Soulprint
    Simply put drudging up a two year old comment isn't and shouldnt be news.
  • Captain Awesome
    DEL TORO TO TAKE ON PETER JACKSON IN FANTASY FIGHT ON SET.

    - Each director will be aided by their own special effects team in trying to defeat their opponent.

    - No hitting below the belt.

    - Yo mama jokes are allowed.

    - The playing of any Robert Tepper's "No Easy Way Out" is strictly forbidden.

    Tickets will be on sale soon.
  • Camperton
    Sciretta, what do you mean you wonder what's happened in the last couple of years to change his mind? He clearly states "I was never into heroic fantasy. At all”. Key word there being NEVER.
  • @camperton

    Are you confused about the English language, or am I? Your comment does not currently compute.
  • gocitizen
    wait a sec... does this mean that Pan's Labyrinth sucks now? or just the fantasy elements?

    Can someone dig up Del Toro's reading list? If he's secretly reading some romance stuff, I want him delivering something with Hanks and Ryan asap.

    You know, you can say you don't much care for blondes, but then, one day, a cute blonde falls in your lap and suddenly the world is different. That's how the world works.
  • Mike D
    For those of you who have said "I don't like X but I watched the movie about X and liked it". It takes a lot less commitment to watch a movie than to make a movie. You have to be passionate about what you do otherwise it's just a job and it shows. The reason the LoTR turned out so well is because Jackson was absolutely in love with the story, he was a huge fan, and set forth the effort it took to make the films great.

    I don't know about del Toro and his dislike, but if he's not into it it'll show and they'll suck. And the second one is goign to suck anyway just to get that out of the way right now.
  • Jojo
    He realized that even though he has made some kickass films his films were mostly dissapointments or duds at boxoffice. He knows that he can have a big hit on his resume if he takes on an established franchise with huge fanbase and something that people are asking for which is Hobbit. I have said this before and I will say this again Guillermo is doing this for the money and to get that one big hit on his resume.
  • Baggins
    This is slightly alarming in the sense that the world of Tolkien requires a deep immersion of many many reads to really understand and work with when transferring it to a visual means. That said, del Toro will have a great team of character/environment people (WETA), a good foundation that was set by Jackson with the LOTR films, and I'm sure Jackson will be more involved than the typical executive producer.

    Del Toro is fortunate in the sense that The Hobbit is a standalone book that a 10 year old can comprehend and enjoy. Thus, it won't have all of the intertwining strands of character development as the LOTR trilogy does. That said, this is a VERY important book - usually the gateway book to fantasy in terms of literature - and nothing short of greatness will be acceptable. Another thing is that The Hobbit MUST be a PG film, which is doable considering the only epic battle is the Battle of the Five Armies. If PG and if done well, this movie will yield tons and tons of money...more than any of the LOTR movies.
  • WillTheSecond
    It may be a prestige thing: he'll do it to get big-time attention, then go off and do his own stuff but with the knowledge that people will get pissed off if they find out the studios are interfering, like Kubrick did with Spartacus. So it could well be a political move to attain creative freedom.

    I don't like the Lord of the Rings movies (the first two are okay but the third one is boring as hell) or novels (can't stand 'em), but I would be temped by Jackson's offer, plus it's probably really fun to make a film like that.

    "wait a sec… does this mean that Pan’s Labyrinth sucks now? or just the fantasy elements?"

    He was referring specifically to Swords & Sorcery films, they're only a sub-genre of fantasy. The guy loves fantasy, but like many people doesn't like that one particularly type of it.

    "You know, you can say you don’t much care for blondes, but then, one day, a cute blonde falls in your lap and suddenly the world is different. That’s how the world works."

    This logic works, yeah. However, would this blonde have blonde hair on her feet, too?
  • Pete

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


    Did I leave anything out, oh yes more$$$$$$$$$$$

  • @Lucas: Just cause someone can't finish LotR doesn't mean they don't like it. I couldn't stand the first book... I got to the pages and pages and pages of Tom Bombadil rambling and singing and I quit. But, I LOVE the movies so much!
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