Famed director and geek-icon Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame has finally reached an agreement with New Line Cinema to be involved in creating two prequel films to the J.R.R. Tolkien movies. It was announced earlier today that Jackson will serve as executive producer for two movies based on The Hobbit, which sets the whole Golem/Frodo/Sauron dynamic into motion. Production could begin as soon as 2009, with the movies tentatively set to release in 2010 and 2011. Now if we can just get the Hollywood writers’ strike settled, maybe things will get underway.
But will Peter Jackson also be the films’ director?
At the moment, it seems Jackson is limiting himself to the role of Executive Producer. We’ll see if that changes as the films draw closer.