Cameron: Only one cap fit for Hobbit

As speculation increases that production of The Hobbit has revved up, blockbuster director James Cameron says he always suspected Sir Peter Jackson would take the reins.

"I was telling [Guillermo Del Toro] for a long time to get out of that thing because there is only room for one captain on the ship," Cameron – director of blockbusters such as Avatar and Titanic – was reported as saying in the Australian newspaper the Herald Sun.

"Instinctively I knew that Peter was going to take over and do the movie."

Del Toro stepped away from directing The Hobbit in May, citing frustrations with delays, after working on the project for two years. He has been announced as director of Cameron's 3D version of Antarctica horror novella At the Mountains of Madness.

Del Toro and Cameron were long-time friends, the Herald Sun reported. "Of course he would have done a spectacular job, but don't we want to see Peter do it? He should do it and Guillermo should do his thing," Cameron said.

It is understood there is increased speculation among insiders – bound by confidentiality – that the film will go ahead, with Jackson at the helm.

A source said yesterday that at least one CGI (computer-generated imagery) expert, who also worked on The Lord of the Rings, had arrived in Wellington to work on The Hobbit. The film was "on the go in terms of sets and pre-work they are doing ... Peter will direct it."

But Jackson's spokesman, Matt Dravitzki, said there was no substance to claims that The Hobbit production had been stepped up. Staff numbers had gone up "marginally" but often fluctuated.

Work had been going on at the Hobbiton set, near Matamata, for a year. It was the only set that had been given the green light for construction, because of the amount of time involved in it.

Earlier this month, he said "we remain positive" The Hobbit would be made, despite the film having no official green light, director or full cast.

Matamata-Piako District Council granted resource consent for the Hobbiton set late last year. According to the application, filming was scheduled for 10 to 15 days in January or February next year, with 350 people on set.

It said some of the set, built for The Lord of the Rings, would be reconstructed, adding to the leftover trilogy set. "The proposal is to reconstruct these structures as permanent buildings, so that, after filming, it will provide a more complex model of the `Hobbiton Village' for future movie set tours."

Still to be built were the Green Dragon pub, watermill, bridge, jetty, Bag End, Bag Shot Row and Bag End Tree.

- © Fairfax NZ News