Guillermo del Toro recently spoke up about two of his upcoming projects that I am pumped for, The Hobbit and Frankenstein. Here is what he said at the Director's Guild of America in midtown Manhattan as part of The New Yorker Festival series of talks. (Or some of the best parts)

"Essentially, Smaug represents so many things: greed, pride ... he's 'the Magnificent,' after all. The way his shadow is cast in the narrative you cannot then show it and have it be one thing, he has to be the embodiment of all those things. He's one of the few dragons that will have enormous scenes with lines. He has some of the most beautiful dialogues in those scenes! The design, I'm pretty sure that will be the last design we will sign off on, and the first design we have attempted. It is certainly a matter of turning every stone before figuring out what he looks like, because what he looks like will tell you what he is."

And as for Frankenstein, del Toro promises an adaptation that does not leave its director shirtless. "I'm not doing Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. I'm doing an adventure story that involves the creature. I cannot say much, but it's not the central creation story, I'm not worried about that. The fact is I've been dreaming of doing a Frankenstein movie since I was a child."

I am really pumped for his Hobbit because I really do think he is one of the best fantasy directors EVER, especially today. I also think he has an unbelievable talent for combining CGI with practical special effects and it produces some of the best results since Jurassic Park.

In any case, you can check out more of the article here if you choose.