by Andy Gibbons

Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gutted on hearing the news that Guillermo Del Toro has had to pull out of directing The Hobbit. The Mexican moviemaker has had to walk away from filming the two-part prequel to The Lord Of The Rings saga after to the financial meltdown over at MGM (who co-own the rights to The Hobbit movies with New Line) caused the project to get caught up in all kinds of delays. Apparently a frustrated Del Toro spoke to LOTR guru Peter Jackson over the weekend and told him that he was bowing out.

On the bright side (if you can see one), Jackson has confirmed to TheOneRing.net that Del Toro is still collaborating on the screenplay and that some of Guillermo’s imagination will still be seen on screen when the films finally arrive. “Guillermo is one of the most remarkable creative spirits I’ve ever encountered and it has been a complete joy working with him. Guillermo’s strong vision is engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA,” Jackson told the fan site.

This news officially sucks and if you read Jackson’s full statement it really seems to me like they’re trying to put a brave face on things ‘cos Del Toro is one of the most creative minds at work today and anyone who’s seen Pan’s Labyrinth will know that his style would have suited Middle Earth perfectly.

So the big question  now is who is going to take over? Well whoever it is is going to have to spend a considerable amount of time in New Zealand and show an extraordinary commitment to the project. Jackson has already ruled himself out so I guess the speculation will run wild but it looks like we should get an answer sooner rather than later as Jackson and co. are due to sit down with the studio suits later this week to try and fill the significant gap left by Del Toro’s departure.