It’s a sad day for Tolkien fans as Guillermo Del Toro has officially announced that he will not be directing the pair of Hobbit pictures that were slated to begin their releases in 2012.

With MGM going belly up and forcing production delay after production delay, Del Toro simply can’t sit around in New Zealand any longer, waiting around for the film to happen.  MGM is really messing with a couple of big franchises with their sale that is going to hurt the bottom lines of their potential buyers.  The other we reported was that the James Bond franchise was stalling out because of them.

But as far as the Hobbit, The OneRing.Net broke the story last night in Del Toro and Peter Jackson’s own words:

“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”, says Guillermo. “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.”

“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”, says Executive Producer Peter Jackson. “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.”

It’s not great news, to be sure, but there are silver linings here.

First is that if Guillermo isn’t directing The Hobbit, but he did spend the last two years working on the screenplay and developing the look.  He will remain a screenwriter on the project.  Second, if he’s not directing The Hobbit because it’s not happening, it means he’ll be directing something else, and when you’re Guillermo Del Toro, anything with his name on it is something I want to see.

The third is that a new director hasn’t been announced.  I have a sneaking suspicion Peter Jackson might just step back into the reigns.  That would be the only other choice that would make me as happy as Guillermo Del Toro, and I think most fans agree.

So, we’ll wait and see how this plays out.  In the meantime, I’m excited to hear what kick-ass project Del Toro is leaving The Hobbit to make, because that will be a film worth seeing.