Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I saw word trickle in last night that there might be some bridge re-building going on with Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye/New Line. Actually, it sounds more like New Line more than Shaye...

I have a note in with Wingnut, trying to get a statement, but I figured if I waited too much longer then the story would be ancient. And there's already misinformation out there.

The exact quote from Shaye is "Notwithstanding our personal quarrels, I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit."

As you can see, it's far from a greenlighted announcement, which is what's being reported in many places. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that Shaye was pressured to lay off the personal grudge by Time Warner stock holders who might be interested in having the full fan support that comes with bringing Jackson back to make THE HOBBIT. Or it could just be that he's been turned down by the people he's approached to fill Jackson's spot and the rights might be slipping away. Or maybe he did have a change of heart. I don't know.

So, I'd say at best it's a beginning that could lead to us getting THE HOBBIT with Jackson, Weta and the entire gang from RINGS back behind the camera. I'm sure a lot of that will be decided on how much New Line continues to be shady about the money Jackson thinks he's owed, contractually, for the multi-billion dollar trilogy he made for the studio. We'll see...

Thanks to "dalbatron" and the dozens of others who have emailed about this.