Studios Trying To Snag Peter Jackson For "The Hobbit"

After the exit of co-writer/producer Guillermo del Toro, studios are clamoring for Oscar winner Peter Jackson to fill the director's chair on The Hobbit. Ace Hollywood reporter Nikki Finke says Warner Bros. and New Line are pushing hard for Jackson to take the gig.

Jackson, who brought J.R.R. Tolkien's world of Middle Earth to life in his Oscar winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is already co-writing and producing Hobbit, the literary and cinematic prequel to the Rings books/films.

Del Toro worked extensively on the Hobbit project -- and will still be credited as a co-writer and co-producer -- but bagged as a director when he realized how long he'd have to relocate his family to Jackson's native New Zealand, the real-life home of Tolkien's Middle Earth. Jackson's trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and earned an armful of Academy Awards, so it's no surprise the suits want him back in the driver's seat.