Del Toro To Direct Pair of Hobbit Films?

[News]

Guillermo del Toro is talking with exec producer Peter Jackson and financers New Line and MGM to direct back-to-back films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Because Jackson is working on THE LOVELY BONES and TINTIN, he has opted to produce the HOBBIT films and oversee the writing of the script in lieu of taking the directing reins as he did on THE LORD OF THE RINGS series. A screenwriter has not been found for the project, because of the writers strike, however it will be a top priority for the studios when a resolution with WGA is sealed.

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[brandeil]

Thought jackson wasent doing the Hobbit due to conflics with New Line ?? would be a real shame if he didnt do the hobbit.

[demolishman]

Jesus christ please no. Jackson is the only one =(

[danlefeb]

It's been released for a while that Jackson isn't going to be directing The Hobbit. It's only been within the past few months that he's agreed to be a part of the movie. I've heard rumors of a few good directors' names floating around as possible leads for this project.

Del Toro is extremely talented...and his movies can be a little strange, I'm sure he'd do a great job. After all, before the three LoTR movies came out - would you have guessed Peter Jackson (who's previous credits include mainly B-quality horror movies) could do as well as he did? :)