Guillermo del Toro gives details about the creatures that are going to be featured on "The Hobbit" and also the casting process of the project.
- Nov 13, 2008
AceShowbiz - Guillermo del Toro, director of "The Hobbit", talks to Coming Soon about the creatures that are going to be featured on the upcoming adventure-fantasy flick, about which he gushes, "We want to do a muscle-driven, radio-controlled suits for a couple of things." He goes on revealing, "I already started that with Wink in 'Hellboy II.' Wink was pushed as far as we could within the time limits and the budget limits of the movie and we're going to take what we learned and apply it."
Picking up dragon Smaug, the creature in "The Hobbit", as a reference, del Toro credits J. R. R. Tolkien for describing it "magnificently." "It's already a fantastic character. So, obviously, dragons, you ask every person what their best favorite dragon is, they will give you a different answer. In my mind, what we're going to attempt on the design of this creature and the creation of this creature needs to push the envelope beyond anything you've ever seen on that kind of creature," he argues.
"There is some stuff that has been done with dragons that I find... there are very few landmarks created for me. One of the best and one of the strongest landmarks that almost nobody can overcome is 'Dragonslayer.' The design of the Vermithrax Pejorative is perhaps one of the most perfect creature designs ever made. So, what you have to be careful is not to try to be distinctive just to be distinctive, but Smaug has certain characteristics that make him unique already. I am bursting at the seams about spilling the beans, but I won't because I would be shot," he states further.
Besides, he also addresses on the movie's casting process, stating that it won't be held until the writing process is completed. "Literally, like every week, what you discover writing the two movies, writing the two stories, it changes. So, every week there's a discovery, and anything we say this week would be contradicted next week. Certainly that would be true in casting," he explains to Coming Soon. Defending the option, the filmmaker adds, "Why create hopes or why create expectations if down the line you're going to go, 'You know what? That was not a good idea.'"
"The Hobbit," which is one of the two-part movie, currently is still in development. The story will follow Bilbo Baggins' journeys to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of dwarfs to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug. The film is expected to hit the U.S. theaters on December 1, 2011.
