Peter Jackson in Negotiations to Direct ‘Hobbit’

Published by Jeff Leins on June 25, 2010

Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is in negotiations to officially take over directing duties on the long-delayed, two-part adaptation of The Hobbit.

Jackson, who has served as a producer on the project(s) up to this point, is now hammering out his deal, according to Deadline, before meeting with potential cast members in London and Los Angeles during the first two weeks of July.

The position opened up after Guillermo del Toro bowed out in May due to “conflicting schedules” upon completion of the two scripts with Jackson and his partners Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh.  The nearly $4 billion debt of MGM, which holds partial rights, is stalling the production, estimated to take another few years of shooting and editing in New Zealand.

Naturally, executives at New Line, a Warner Bros subsidiary, turned to Jackson who delivered over $2.9 billion in revenue from his first trek through Middle Earth.  The 48-year-old director initially balked at the possibility, but apparently everyone has a price.

Others rumored for the job were Harry Potter regular David Yates, Rush Hour hack Brett Ratner, and The Wedding Crashers helmer David Dobkin.  Neill Blomkamp, who worked under Jackson on District 9, also surfaced as a possible replacement, but I’m not sure that was ever more than wishful thinking from eager fans.

It’s unclear what Jackson’s Hobbit agreement will mean for his involvement with the sequel to Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.  Jackson was slated to shoot the second of the trilogy, while the third was to either go to an unnamed talent or become a joint project between the two filmmakers.  It looks like Jackson has found a way to wriggle out of that motion capture movie.

Immediately after Jackson’s deal closes, discussions will begin on whether to shoot the two-part epic in 3D.  There have been rumors of using the three-dimensional format, but del Toro regularly denied them before his departure.  Two stereoscopic prequels would mean the original three could be (and probably will be any way) converted to 3D for a re-release, as well as significantly larger box office returns.

The Hobbit: Part I is still tentatively scheduled for December 2012, but who knows if they’ll be able to meet that deadline with the grueling, back-to-back shoot ahead of them. The Hobbit: Part II is hovering a year later in December 2013.

One Director to rule them all, One Director to find them,
One Director to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.