Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct back-to-back installments of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
The news is a follow up to the recent revelation that New Line and MGM had cleared up litigation with The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson (related article here). Jackson will be executive producing the two films alongside Fran Walsh.
The two films will be shot simultaneously, with principal photography tentatively set for 2009. The production budget is estimated at a very healthy $150 million per film. Plans are for the first film to release in 2010, followed by the second in 2011.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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