Guillermo del Toro in talks for ''Hobbit?''

(FROM HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) ? Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct the two planned Peter Jackson-produced adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, according to Hollywood Reporter. The director’s name has been mentioned as a strong possibility for the MGM/New Line projects since the studios first worked out a deal with Jackson for a movie and sequel in December. Because of the writers’ strike, there is still no writer attached. The first movie is scheduled for release in 2010 and the second in 2011. Del Toro, who earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for Pan’s Labyrinth, which he directed, is finishing Universal’s summer release Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and recently produced The Orphanage. (Hollywood Reporter)