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Having recently buried the $40 million hatchet with Peter Jackson to bring to an end that ugly feud over Lord of the Rings profits, New Line (and partner MGM) can now turn its attention to the crucial matter of finding a suitable director (Jackson, as you surely remember, is executive producing) for its two planned Hobbit movies, knowing that making a hasty, ill-considered choice could, as THR notes, "put billions of dollars at stake...and could turn off an audience that encompasses millions of passionate readers, Tolkien fans and obsessive geeks."

But breathe easy, hairy-footed-little-person enthusiasts, Fanboy-Pre-Approved Visionary Guillermo Del Toro is in talks to do both movies, a fact that should put to rest your recurring nightmare that a panicked New Line, turning to the only person the studio truly trusts when it's desperate for a blockbuster, were seriously considering Brett Ratner's pitch to do the back-to-back Hobbitses as "Lord of the Rings, but with, like, much more dwarves and shit blowing up. Chris Tucker's already really excited about stretching himself by playing Dildo Bagboy or whatever he's called."