[KiwiHopeful]

We can only hope this is *all* true!

Peter Jackson to direct The Hobbit in 3D?

Hard and fast on the bloody trail of Beowulf in 3D comes the rumour of a 3D version of The Hobbit, in two parts to be directed by Peter Jackson. Wow... Peter Jackson IS Directing The Hobbit - In 3D! is the headline over at Screen Rant.

The ease with which this latest rumour about The Hobbit movie has proliferated on the web proves once again how poor journalistic standards on the web are, how easy it is to believe anything so long as it is written, and how hungry many of us are for news about The Hobbit, especially if it mentions Peter Jackson.
In the end though there is only one source for this story ? Jim Dorey over at Marketsaw. And let?s be frank, it?s unsubstantiated. Which is not to say that it might not in fact prove to be true. We certainly hope it is, and as we?ve said before, we?d be surprised if Peter Jackson doesn?t end up directing The Hobbit; given his achievement with the Lord of the Rings movies, he is the obvious (and as far as we?re concerned, the only) choice. But as Quint over at Ain?t it cool news points out Jackson?s schedule with Tintin and Lovely Bones has him tied up for the foreseeable future. Quint followed up this rumour by contacting ?Jackson?s camp? for confirmation and got a ?resounding no?. Ironically, of course, this proves nothing as we?d expect them to say no until they?re ready to make an official announcement.

For those who haven?t heard the ?news?, it goes something like this: Peter Jackson will now direct The Hobbit, his dispute with New Line put aside or resolved. The movie will be in two parts, the first released in 2010 and the second in 2011 (the fact that it wil be in two parts is not news as such as that was reported as early as October 2006). The second part of the movie will apparently be influenced by The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle Earth, and will, according to Marketsaw, ?lead us up to creation of the Fellowship in a graceful and logical fashion?. Furthermore the movies will also be in 3D, and apparently the Lord of The Rings trilogy will also be converted to 3D and re-released between 2012 and 2014.

So there you have it. While we?re hoping that Jim over at Marketsaw has reliable sources, we?re treating this one with a fistful of scepticism until Peter Jackson or New Line come out with an official statement confirming or denying it.

Until then folks, this is no more than a pleasant rumour.