Anna Daniels
When del Toro and Jackson started fleshing out the story that would make it to the big screen, they quickly began to realize that what they were working on was not going to be just one movie. The longer they took to map out the story, the more the production schedule was pushed back to allow for them to finish writing.
Another factor contributing to the production delay: MGM, the studio that was producing The Hobbit, ran into big time money troubles in the ’00s. As such, the studio became increasingly wary of ponying up the titanic budget that the project, which would eventually balloon into a trilogy, would require. In fact, while del Toro was hired in 2008, the studio didn’t actually announce that The Hobbit would be coming to the big screen until May 2010, the same month del Toro stepped away.
By the time The Hobbit finally got a green light from the studio, the project had been pushed back so many times that del Toro had now run into scheduling conflicts with other projects he had committed to. Despite the fact that he had entered into the project with a vision, and the will and excitement to see it through, it was plain by that time that The Hobbit‘s production might stretch on for years, and del Toro had no choice but to bow out in order to fulfill his other obligations.
Written by: Looper
