Screenhead

Yeah, I know–nothing like a conclusive headline to get everybody’s interest, but the fact of the matter is that we have nary clue one as to Viggo Mortensen’s true plans vis-a-vis his acting career.

Not long ago, he suggested that unless a really good acting role came up, he was going to stick with his music and visual art for the next couple years or so.  But then at the Toronto Film Festival, he subsequently went on record to say that he had no plans to retire.  I suppose it’s possible that he could retire–he almost certainly made enough cash on the Lord of the Rings series to never, ever need to walk into work again.

Especially since we should be seeing him coming back to handle the Strider role in the upcoming Hobbit movie?  Sadly, we don’t know.  I can’t imagine him not being involved, but the way Hollywood is these days?  Anything’s possible, from the ground up.

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Agent Smith err… Hugo Weaving has been confirmed to don those elf ears once again as he will reunite with Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen in The Hobbit.

This comes from Guillermo del Toro, who says the trio will all return “… as the roles they originated in the trilogy.”

Weaving played the elf leader Elrond in all three films in the highly popular Lord of the Rings series.

Once you’ve gotten over your nerdgasm, you’ll be pleased to know that the first of the two Hobbit films will open December 2011. Mark your calendars now!

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Guillermo del Toro is set with a long-term commitment of four directing projects, including remakes of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Slaughterhouse-Five. We already have heard about The Hobbit.

The next project added to his dance card is an adaptation of “Drood”, a Dan Simmons novel that will be published in February by Little, Brown.

Of course, del Toro’s first priority is New Line and MGM’s The Hobbit, to which he has committed the next five years. He has begun writing Hobbit with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

If anyone knows about the film industry it is rather hard or near impossible to plan projects for five years, but the hope is Drood will be the next del Torro project after Hobbit.  At least, that is what Universal hopes since they are funding Drood.  

“Drood” is a gothic novel where Simmons weaves a presumption that survival from a catastrophic train crash changed author Charles Dickens, plunging him into the depths of London depravity and possibly turning him to murder before he wrote his final novel, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”

If all goes well in film land, the director will belong to Universal after The Hobbit wraps.

If that isn’t enough for the director’s dance card, the studio has its hopes set on del Toro’s pet project, an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness.”

There is even another project Universal wants del Toro to produce, not direct, an adaptation of David Moody’s apocalyptic novel “Hater.”  Let’s not forget Crimson Peak, a gothic romance spec script by del Toro and his Mimic collaborator Matthew Robbins, which del Toro will produce but not direct.

According to Variety (where I got all this information), while he busies himself with Hobbit, del Toro will outline the other projects and hire writers. The films will be supervised at del Toro and his manager, Gary Ungar will be exec producer of the films and will oversee the slate with others to see the projects through to completion.  

Variety article on del Toro’s projects through 2017 is worth a read if you are a fan.

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