I was deeply upset by that news today. I was REALLY looking forward to Del Toro's take on the Hobbit. Though to be frank, his take on things would probably have overshadowed the original trilogy (that's how talented the guy is).

There's a couple upsides here though; one is that we get to see more awesome original Del Toro work and soon! (Mountains of Madness anyone?!). The other is that I think Peter Jackson found the right tone and look for LOTR. If he can pull that magic out again he might as well run with it for the Hobbit. It would be totally consistent with the original vision and probably kick just as much ass as the trilogy.

I have to be honest here. This looks like a pushout. Jackson was quoted as saying "Well, it's not really been delayed, because we've never announced the date. I mean it's sort of interesting because the studio has never greenlit The Hobbit, so therefore The Hobbit has never been officially announced as a 'go' project, nor have we ever announced a date."

WE'VE?

It really sounds like Jackson has been running the show all along and just wanted to see how far Del Toro would take it. Unfortunate, considering I like both directors.

I hope this doesn't push Jackson off Mortal Engines (hungry Cities to the international Crowd).

Peter Jackson Helming this was the best news I've gotten so far this year.

I was excited to hear that Del Toro was working on the hobbit. Ive been screaming in disbeleif that jackson even considered the LOTR trilogy without throwing the Hobbit in the mix beforehand. Now Del Toro is out and Jacksons taking the reigns again. OK. What we get out of this swap is At the Mountains of Madness! Man Ive been maiting for some ballsy character to give this epic story a shot! Really, who better could actually tackle this?!

MGM is in bad shape - when it is this hard to gather the funds for a pretty much guaranteed money maker....

The Auld Grump, the lion may not roar for much longer.