If you were one of many fans who thought that if Peter Jackson wasn’t going to direct The Hobbit a really great alternative was Guillermo del Toro, prepare to be disappointed. After spending the last two years developing the adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic as his next directing effort, Guillermo del Toro has announced he is now stepping down as director of the project.

The director was obviously disappointed about the decision but said: “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,” Guillermo wrote in his announcement on “Lord of the Rings” fansite TheOneRing.net. “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.”

However, all is not completely lost as the director also indicted he would stay on the project co-writing the screenplays for parts one and two with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens. Of course, now that del toro has stepped down it would seem like a perfect choice would be for Jackson to step up and take over the film.

After all, he’s been intimately involved with the production and did a pretty good job with those Lord of the Rings movies. Sadly, with Jackson’s other commitments, he won’t be taking on the film either.

“New Line and Warner Bros. will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for ‘The Hobbit,’ said Jackson. “We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work.”

Well, there you go. With del Toro out and Jackson out, who’s the best choice to take on The Hobbit now?

Since 2007, studios and fans alike have been contemplating, worrying, speculating, and spewing rumors about the upcoming prequel to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit. The news that we do know is that Jackson is teaming up with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, the story will be split into two films over two years, and now we have a release date for the two films. From Heat Vision:

Warner Bros. is scheduling Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro’s two-part adaptation of “The Hobbit” for December 2012 and December 2013.

Despite Tobey’s dropping that he knows who will be replacing Sam Raimi as director for the planned Spider-Man4 movie reboot, the bigger news surrounding the Golden Globe nominee has been a rumor fueled by the entire internet that he’s currently signed on to play Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit.

But word has come from the Headgeek over at Ain’t It Cool News, via email from del Toro and Peter Jackson who is stepping back to the role of Producer for the two films being made from J.R.R. Tolkien’s lead-in to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, that the rumors aren’t true and that the production is still about a month or two away from making any announcements. Peter Jackson, in his email response even said that they’re  ”currently auditioning for Bilbo.”

Will this mean that in a month or so we’ll be completely shocked at who gets the role? Or might Maguire actually have a shot at it and the filmmakers are just playing coy? Let us know what you think of this idea, or who you’d like to see as Bilbo, in the comments below.

Once Peter Jackson announced to the world that he would be writing and producing an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and that it would be two movies, there has been speculation as to just how the book will be split. Will it be cut in two and be a two-part adaptation like others are doing for the last Harry Potter and Twilight films or will the first movie be based on the book and the second serve as a bridge to Jackson’s Lord of the Rings?

Well, wonder no more because Jackson himself has cleared up the mystery, according to an interview he gave recently. The two movies will be based completely on the book.

“The second Hobbit script is still based on the Hobbit novel,” Jackson said in a group interview after a press conference for The Lovely Bones. “The Hobbit novel is in two parts.” Well, that sounds pretty definitive, doesn’t it?

In case you’re not familiar, The Hobbit tells the story of young Bilbo Baggins’ quest for a treasure guarded by the dragon Smaug. Written prior to The Lord of the Rings, it establishes some of the characters for that trilogy, including the wizard Gandalf and the evil Gollum, and the world of Middle Earth in which they live.

The first Hobbit movie is due in theaters in 2011, with part two following in 2012.

The Hobbit has been on everyone’s radar since the success of the Lord of the Rings films, but has been a long time coming. After New Line was sued by both director Peter Jackson and Tolkien’s heirs, Jackson is now reporting yet another delay to Variety.

Stating that writing on The Hobbit, which will be a two-part film, is slowing down production, Jackson said that he hopes that he along with Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens and director Guillermo del Toro will finish writing by the beginning of next year. Production would then start by the middle of next summer, a few months later than expected.

With Jackson as writer/producer and Del Toro at the helm, The Hobbit is sure to be worth the wait. However, fans of both the literature and the “Rings” trilogy are sure to be antsy to return to Middle Earth as soon as possible, so this latest delay won’t make them very happy.

The Hobbit films have reported release dates of December 2011 and December 2012, with no word as to whether the recent delays will push back these dates.

Fans who thought that Peter Jackson’s presence at this year’s Comic-Con meant that he would have big news regarding the release of The Hobbit are in for a bit of a disappointment. Cinematical reports that Jackson revealed The Hobbit is much farther away than fans have been led to believe.

Prior to his appearance, rumors circulated that Jackson (who is producing with Guillermo del Toro directing) would announce who would star as Bilbo Baggins in the highly-anticipated double-feature prequel at Comic-Con. Far from announcing who was cast, he claimed they’re not even close to choosing one. “Everyone assumes we’re casting but we’re not,” he said.

Jackson related that they’re three or four weeks away from finishing the first draft of the script, and that the film isn’t even really greenlit yet. Once the draft is handed in, they still need to get approval on the script and have the budget approved before any casting decisions will be made. Fans shouldn’t panic however; the film will certainly be made, but wait a few months before you start looking for a casting announcement.

The first Hobbit film is due to hit theaters in December of 2011.

Over at MTV’s Splash Page, they’ve got an interview with Helboy and future Hobbit director Guillermo Del Toro. Among the many things discussed in the interview was the future of the Hellboy film franchise. The director would do another film but doubts Hellboy himself, actor Ron Perlman would be up for it because he hates the makeup. One other great bit of info revealed in the interview was that the director had come very close to taking on the big screen adaptation of Marvel’s Thor.

In the interview, Del Toro says: “They approached me for Thor. And for a long time we talked about that, because the mythology and the images were very attractive to me. This was before Hellboy II,” he said. While director Kenneth Branagh was eventually tapped to take on Thor, Del Toro had quite a bit to say in the interview about why he was so attracted to the character and the idea of doing the film.

“I’m a fan of [Jack] Kirby and the power he has, and I’m a fan of the original mythology,” explained Del Toro. “So I thought we could go back to the original mythology a lot. I love Loki, I think he’s a great figure.”

Interesting indeed but not really surprising. The director has proven he can handle big, effects-driven films in the past so it would make sense that Marvel would consider him for one of its films. Plus, he certainly seems to have an affinity for the characters and the mythology. Plus, he’s an extremely talented director with a unioque vision. Its too bad we won’t ever get to see what a Guillermo Del Toro Thor movie would look like.

That said, I’m pretty interested to see what someone like Kenneth Branagh can bring to the table. He certainly has the chops to handle actors and has already made some interesting choices in that area. Plus, he’s done effects-driven films before as well so handling the demands of a movie as big as Thor should be no problem. I, for one, can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Be sure to check out the Del Toro interview after the jump.

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Director Guillermo del Toro has had a unique and varied career so far. His range of films from Mimic, Blade II and Pan’s Labyrinth to Hellboy I and II, have managed to keep us interested, entertained and sometimes even a little scared. Currently, del Toro is working on a live-action version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic The Hobbit. But apparently, that’s not enough to keep him busy.

He’s also co-written a novel with Chuck Hogan called The Strain, which concerns a mysterious virus that turns humans into horrifying vampiric creatures. Over at Wired, they’ve got a first look at the video trailer for the book. Yes, even books have trailers now — especially if they are co-written by directors.

The video, according to Wired, “includes brief NSFW language and some monstrous imagery, (and) offers a glimpse of the gory horrors that await upon The Strain’s printed pages.”

The Strain, published by William Morrow, goes on sale June 2. Meanwhile, click through to check out the trailer.

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