LOTR

After Guillermo Del Toro stepped down as director for a pair of films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel ‘The Hobbit,” Sir Peter Jackson says that he might step in and direct after all. While Jackson and Del Toro are co-writing the screenplays, with Fran Walsh, for the two movies that will make up ‘The Hobbit,” Jackson had previously declined the director role because of other career obligations. This is in fact pretty much the same reason Del Toro finally stepped down, after apparently two years of waiting on production for The Hobbit.

Jackson, who recently produced District 9 and The Lovely Bones, and his wife Fran Walsh are the executive producers of The Hobbit movies, and he directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy (LOTR) that made him a household name around the world. Jackson is now meeting with other directors but if he can’t find the right person, he’ll step in and direct:

If that’s what I have to do to protect Warner Bros’ investment, then obviously that’s one angle which I’ll explore.

Jackson has proven how true to Tolkien’s stories he likes to stay, but playing so many roles for one project isn’t exactly an easy task, and he has other commitments that may hinder him from directing The Hobbit movies. The movies, which are a prequel to LOTR, are scheduled for release in Dec 2012 and Dec 2013. Only a few characters from LOTR will be in The Hobbit movies, including Gollum/ Smeagol and Frodo’s uncle Bilbo Baggins, after whom the book is based on.