Peter Jackson to Direct "The Hobbit"

[legoline]

Whenever "The Hobbit" finally arrives in theaters, it will certainly be one of the most anticipated releases in a while. Now it seems that the buzz will only increase, as "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson has reportedly signed on to direct both parts of "The Hobbit," which are loosely slated to hit theaters in 2012 and 2013.

[...]

According to Deadline, the speculation about Peter Jackson directing "The Hobbit" has now turned official, which should get the project back on track. For some time now, the highly buzzed about adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" has been struggling in preproduction without a director.

Source

And from the official (!) press release:

The two films based on "The Hobbit" are now greenlit and will begin principal photography in February 2011, under the direction of Peter Jackson

Press Release

I won't believe they're actually making the movie until it hits the theatres.

Comments

[morelindo.livejournal.com]

Seriously? I'm glad he did because I can't see it at all! LOL!

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Really? No, I can totally see him. I'm still scared they may go for James McAvoy because I totally can't see him as Bilbo.

[morelindo.livejournal.com]

OK, after looking him up on IMDB, I have to second that.

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Glad we agree :-) I wonder who they'll end up with. I'm just glad PJ is directing, so I hope the casting will match the other films.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I totally could not see John Rhys-Davies as Gimli. The man is a big bear, not at all a dwarf! (He was absolutely right voicing Treebeard, though.) But thanks to photo-trickery with the visuals and that he's a real actor (and that the hobbitses were also not much smaller than him in real life) he carried it off. So I'm now going to reserve judgement on Bilbo...