Directors Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro.

Director Guillermo Del Toro is leaving The Hobbit, and geeks worldwide are heartbroken. After his comments a few days ago that he would be starting other projects given the delays, this shouldn’t be as much of a surprise. However, it still comes as a shock. MGM’s financial troubles have been pushing back the project for several months now, and many have wondered if the film would ever get off the ground. Del Toro has been working in New Zealand on the project for the last two years with Producer Peter Jackson and writers Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh. He apparently felt as if he couldn’t commit any more time to the two Hobbit films when their status was still up in the air.

I can’t say I blame Del Toro. Six years is a long time to spend working on any project especially when you’re used to churning out a flick ever few years. The good news is Del Toro will still be working on the scripts with the trio of Jackson, Boyens, and Walsh. The big question is who will take over the directors chair? Will it be Jackson himself? I’m sure many are hoping that is the case, yet I find that to be highly unlikely.

Here’s Del Toro’s statement on the matter from the Tolkien fan site www.theonering.net:

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. 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. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director.

And here’s Peter Jackson’s thoughts:

We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave The Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects…The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years. 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. Guillermo is co-writing the Hobbit screenplays with Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and myself, and happily our writing partnership will continue for several more months, until the scripts are fine tuned and polished…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. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work.