Guillermo del Toro: No 3-D for 'The Hobbit'

“I can safely say that, as of this moment, there are absolutely no conversations about doing the Hobbit films in 3-D." That's Guillermo del Toro, talking to Tolkien-centric site The One Ring about one of the biggest rumors surrounding the new films. There have also been some things floating around the internet that instead of two movies, we'll get three, and that Peter Jackson will direct the third installment, a bridge film between the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings franchises. Whether or not those things weren't true (or were true but haven't remained that way) is unclear. Not that they can't have those conversations for the first Hobbit film, scheduled to shoot early next year, but there's still a chance it could be shot in the traditional 2-D form and go through a process in post-production where it magically becomes 3-D. That's what a lot of the animated films have done in the past couple of years, and according to Jeffrey Katzenberg, it's about a $10 - $15 million process. So that wouldn't strap this movie if they made the decision, based on factors like Avatar and some of the other 3-D titles on the horizon, that the gimmick is a good idea. And make no mistake: This would be a gimmick. Unless you're a 3-D devotee, there's simply no reason to take The Hobbit and fit it with the 3-D mechanism. It's unnecessary. Plus, unless I missed something, del Toro has never explored 3-D with any of his films, even as a producer. So maybe he's uncomfortable with it or also thinks it's a bit showy. And again, while things can certainly change between now and the end of 2011, he sounds pretty adamant that we won't need glasses to watch The Hobbit.

Comments

[anybody]

Good news because I am not a fan of 3D... for animated flicks like Coraline (which was great) sure go ahead but I don't want to see this trend grow until everything is in 3D. 3D and Imax should both vanish, it ruins the beauty of film which should be in 2D widescreen. I remember when I saw TDK in both imax and wide and there was no comparison that the traditional wide version was better.

[Lengthy Johnson]

I think it's just a matter of cost and logistics.

I don't think it would be possible to produce it in 3D cheaply and conveniently within the framework of Jackson's NZ infrastructure.

Anyway, the flip-floping pre-production of the Hobbit(s) is not very comforting.

The key to making good movies is to have a very clear vision and to follow that vision no matter what.

This is just indecision and ambivalence all over.

[Get The Big Picture]

I won't disagree with that last part, although I don't think 3-D would be any more expensive in New Zealand, or at least not a deal-breaker. Convenience may be an issue, though.

[Jeff little]

OMG the hobbit is going to be a Sh*tfest...

[Lengthy Johnson]

Well, if we're talking James Cameron 3D, which is the kind of 3D Jackson is talking, they'd have a hard time doing a full production in NZ in March, as they are only trialling it over there now.

[Hydrolith]

So what's it going to be? Hopefully not 3 films with another Peter installment. I prefer Guillermo's Style a la Hellboy more than Peter's. 10 to 15 million to make it 3D? That's rediculous and unecessary.
I'm looking forward to seeing two new Guillermo Hobbit Features and am glad that this article exposed the spaz for muddying the waters. Just a note, I thought Peter did do very well on Lotr,
but I think Guillermos work is great and I prefer it a bit.