Breaking: Peter Jackson to film Tolkien's "The Hobbit" in two films

You heard that right. Plans that had previously fallen through have now been patched up.

The gist from AFP:

Oscar-winning "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson has settled a feud with Hollywood studio New Line and will make two films based on J.R.R Tolkien's "The Hobbit," a statement said Tuesday....

.... As with the "Lord of the Rings," the movies will be shot simultaneously before being released separately. Principal photography was likely to begin in 2009 before the release of the films in 2010 and 2011.

An interesting comment from Lew Harris, editor of Movies.com:

New Line have discovered with 'The Golden Compass' that not anybody can make a movie like this," he added referring to the studio's recent fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman which has struggled at the US box-office.

Correction: "Not anything (that includes anti-Christian fantasy) can make a movie like this."

(But I'll keep my peace.)

I'm not quite sure about splitting the story into two films, but then again it does makes sense if you want to squeeze everything in. And you should. By the by, the combined worldwide box office gross of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy stands just under $3 billion. Great Gimli's beard!

Other sources:

• AP: "Hard 'Hobbit' to Break: Jackson's In"
• MGM CEO talks to Entertainment Weekly
• Coverage from TheOneRing.net

... and there's already an official "The Hobbit Movie Blog."

There ya have it!