Geeks Rejoice! Peter Jackson is doing 'The Hobbit'

Peter Jackson has agreed to be the executive producer of two movies that would act as prequels to the blockbuster, award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy. As you will recall, the books that the movies were adapted from were written by J.R.R. Tolkien, who years before had written a more juvenile-level fantasy book called The Hobbit which is also set in Middle Earth about 50-70 years (When Frodo's uncle Bilbo Baggins was young) before the events of the Lord of the Rings books. The movies would start shooting in 2009 and be ready for release in 2010 and 2011. Unfortunately, Jackson has so far said that he will not be directing the films because he does not want to make fans wait until his schedule clears. He has already completed is still working on a film adaptation of The Lovely Bones based on Alice Sebold's deeply affecting novel told from the perspective of a raped and murdered child looking down from heaven on her family and assailant and has agreed to make a series of three films on the world-famous Tintin character with and for Steven Spielberg.

Fans of the books and films are already starting to congregate at a site called The Hobbit Blog.

Interestingly, the scuttlebutt is that they are not intending to split The Hobbit into two books but the Oscar-winning team of Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens will create their own story which links the events of the Hobbit and fills in details of events that occur before Lord of the Rings (probably the travels of Aragorn and/or Gandalf).