We brought you a couple of reports about who would be helming The Hobbit earlier this month. First, Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) had to leave the directors chair for the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, and then it was rumored that Neill Blomkamp (District 9) was being pursued to take his place. Now it seems that the LotR director himself, Sir. Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones) is now in negotiations to direct both The Hobbit: Part 1 and The Hobbit: Part 2.

Deadline reports that securing Jackson as the director could be an important step in getting MGM to begin production by the end of this year.

Stay Tuned, we will bring you any other details from Middle Earth as soon as we have them.