I loved Return of the King. Loved it. And I was even highly entertained by King Kong. But last night’s news, that Peter Jackson, with partner-writer-wife Fran Walsh, will produce “The Hobbit” left me bewildered. Although I prefer The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, as literature, I must admit that my hobbit cup runneth over. Adding to this is the fact that the deal maintains that Jackson will only executive produce (he’ll be preoccupied with The Lovely Bones and Tintin as director, which both sound much more interesting ) and the timing of the announcement, right after New Line tanking with The Golden Compass and right before New Line chief Bob Shaye’s contract is to be renewed, and you may sense my notion that this is an empty deal. It’s New Line bowing to the almighty Peter Jackson. I don’t know, this doesn’t sound sincere, It’s more like a merger between two multinational corporations than the deal to make a movie of substance.

Added: Cinematical’s Erik Davies reminds us that Sam Raimi once expressed interest in directing The Hobbit. OK, this sounds much better. Raimi directing and Jackson producing? You have my attention. But somehow it’s hard for me to believe that after directing this year’s number 1 movie at the North American box-office Raimi will still be excited to be working with the Jacksons, instead of taking on an independent project he can call his own. We’ll see.