On April 2nd, Guillermo del Toro posted the following regarding The Hobbit and its sequel on the official message boards for Hellboy II: The Golden Army:
Whew- Not yet. BUT there has been a lot of movement. And for the last few weeks there has been a lot of creative / cast / crew / visual talks and agreements and we have witnessed great progress in areas that I cannot disclose or that have already leaked from other sources.
I am dying to share news but I have to be patient and wait until the papers are done and my attachment is real. Nevertheless- a LOT of progress in defining the films, their cast and crew. And, may I add, we are all happily in synch about all creative aspects so far and all willing and eager to move forth.
I cannot say more but if all’s well the time will come To talk of many things: Of shoes — and ships — and sealing wax — Of cabbages — and kings —
May Luck be with us
GDT
PD my silnece means nothing more than the fact that we are RUNNING against an impossible deadline on the HBII film, poster, campaign, ADR, VFX, etc I am SWAMPED.
BUT- Expect good things in the next 2 weeks and a nice item at COMICON. See you there-
New Line Cinema is planning a 2010 release for the first “Hobbit” film and a 2011 release for the second.