Peter Jackson and The Hobbit.

"After months of bitter legal wrangling, Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc have agreed to make two movies based on the book The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien," reports Reuters. "In a statement Tuesday, the companies said Jackson, the director of the smash hit Lord of the Rings movies, and producer Fran Walsh will executive produce both a Hobbit movie and a sequel, but Jackson was not named as the director."

Updated through 12/19.

Looking forward to commentary from Kristin Thompson, author of The Frodo Franchise: "The Lord of the Rings" and Modern Hollywood.

Updates, 12/19: David M Halbfinger has more details on the deal in the New York Times.

Blogging for the Guardian, Jeremy Kay asks: If Jackson won't be directing, who should?

Posted by dwhudson at December 18, 2007 11:08 AM