A Peter Jackson Directed Hobbit Closer

It’s been a horrible mess for a long time, but Entertainment Weekly is reporting that things between Peter Jackson and New Line are getting at least a little friendlier. Apparently talks between the two sides have been going on at the same time that the trial has been progressing (which bloody BEGS the question why the two sides just didn’t sit down and start talking a year ago). And you know what… a Hobbit movie directed by Peter Jackson seems more like a possibility today than it ever has.

Entertainment Weekly gives us this:

But now the legal battle that’s kept The Lord of the Rings’ prequel, The Hobbit, hung up for years — a bitter feud between Rings director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema co-chairman Robert Shaye — may finally be nearing resolution. For once, there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic. At this writing, no agreements have been announced and details of the negotiations are sketchy (neither New Line nor Jackson’s camp would comment to EW on any aspect of this story), but sources close to the talks tell us that they’re detecting a lot less frost in the air, and that a deal may be reached that could help usher J.R.R. Tolkien’s maiden Middle-earth masterpiece to screens before the end of the decade. ”There has been a détente,” says one insider. There is now the beginning of a discourse between Peter Jackson and New Line that’s running parallel to the litigation proceedings.”

Could they two sides actually heal the rift in time to make a Hobbit movie together? I’ve always hoped so. At the same time, I’ve also always been ok with the notion of another director taking Jackson’s place… but all other things being equal, I’d like to see Jackson do it.

One excellent point brought up in the EW article is the craziness of these two very stuborn people (Jackson and Shaye), both of which feel very wronged by the other, when the fact of the matter is that the dollar amount of this lawsuit is so insignificant for both sides when compared to the HUGE money printing factory The Hobbit will be.

Peter Jackson would be a nobody if it wasn’t for Bob Shaye (Jackson said so himself before the rift). Everyone had turned Lord of the Rings down, and only Shaye showed faith in Jackson and the project and agreed to take the HUGE risk of investing over $100 million bucks on Jackson’s dream project. New Line would be a much smaller fish in the Hollywood sea today if it wasn’t for Jackson. LOTR is the biggest money maker and industry success New Line has ever had… largely thanks to Jackson. The two are bitter rivals… but they were also once the best of allies. Let’s hope this EW article is correct and we can see them get through a Hobbit movie together.