Ah, THE HOBBIT saga. Another week, another chapter written. After months and months of speculation as to who’ll man the directorial reins, it seems another clue has been tossed in the spokes. According to THR’S Heat Vision (who Deadline claims lifted from them), Peter Jackson has been quietly globetrotting with the sole purpose of meeting actors to perform in THE HOBBIT. The Kiwi Oscar winner started out in London, then headed to NYC before landing in LA LA land this week for the meet and greets. Oh the drama…
Although THE HOBBIT has yet to be green-lit, or even made official that Jackson will direct the film, word is old Petey is in talks with Warner Bros. to helm a two-part HOBBIT adaptation, and that the deal is nearly done. Only problem is MGM, whose financial woes continue to hamstring the progress of production (they own half the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal work). Warner is feverishly trying to wrestle sole away sole ownership.
Jackson is currently being aided by his longtime casting director Victoria Burrows (THE FRIGHTENERS, KING KONG, THE LOVELY BONES), and likely to help him find a diverse, international cast.
Sounds to me like dude’s looking to find the right batch of talent before committing whole-heartedly to directing. If you can swing it, why not? I’d probably do the same if I were the guy.
How ’bout y’all?!?
The lovely Susan Sarandon, star of Peter Jackson’s THE LOVELY BONES!