Back when Peter Jackson was making low-budget slashers and R-rated Ghostbusters ripoffs (yes, I’m looking at you, The Frighteners!), nobody would have guessed what lay in store for this Lord of the Rings fan. But his passion for the series carried him all the way to New Line Cinema, which gave him the money to create the very first fantasy blockbuster movie - wait, make that three.

Now, Jackson has moved on to other directorial projects, such as the moderately successful King Kong. But he’s drafted someone else to carry on his work; specifically, to film Tolkien’s first Middle Earth novel, The Hobbit.

And the winner is - Guillermo del Toro, of course.

If we take a look at his previous work, Del Toro seems like a much more natural choice to make a fantasy epic. His unique style and creatively twisted mind became evident with the Spanish-language sensation Pan’s Labyrinth, which featured the classic “hero’s journey” fantasy tale on the backdrop of a war-torn countryside. Infamous monsters like The Pale Man - portrayed by the talented Doug Jones - have stuck in the minds of everyone who saw it (and many who just saw pictures).

But is Del Toro really the right choice for this project? He is self-admittedly not a Tolkien fan, and his artistic vision will be limited by the fact that The Hobbit is, essentially, a children’s story. With Peter Jackson as producer to keep him in line, will Del Toro be able to work his unique brand of magic?

Whatever the result, there’s always the original trilogy - and Lord of the Rings trivia on Kwanzoo.

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