It with utter dismay that I read yesterday that New Line have decided not to bring Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh in to produce the two planned Hobbit movies (one based on the book itself and another based on writings and sketches by Tolkien of the stories that linked the Hobbit and Rings trilogy).
It appears that due to an outstanding lawsuit between Jackson and New Line regarding their accounting practices, that many hoped would be resolved before a director was selected, New Line have decided to look elsewhere for the talent to make these movies. You can read Peter and Fran’s official statement here.
Now given that the LOTR movies were not only amazingly good, but also incredibly profitable, it seems to me that New Line are really shooting themselves in the foot with this approach, with what is the equivalent of taking Star Wars Episode III away from George Lucas. Give the movies to Jackson and anticipation would be at such a peak when the Hobbit was released, that we could seriously be looking at the highest grossing movie ever. With someone else, the negative reaction with the fanbase will probably still be around when the first movie opens.
So personally I think that New Line should grow up, settle the case and set about making two great movies to sit alongside the majesty of the Lord Of The Rings movies.
