Guillermo del Toro has given the thumbs-up to Peter Jackson directing the Hobbit, and will instead direct Mountains of Madness – a 3D film epic featuring Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos with James Cameron as producer. Unnameable horrors are safe in del Toro’s hands…

The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has been jetting round the world to meet with potential cast members of The Hobbit.

It’s the news that Shire-fans have been waiting for ever since Guillermo Del Toro pulled out of directing The Hobbit. It looks like big dog Peter Jackson is now in talks with MGM as to whether he’d be suitable to direct the two-part epic. Currently he’s credited as a producer – as well as helping pen the script along with his faithful fellowship of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens – but it looks like everyone involved is straining to get him in the big boy chair.

Crimety, it seems the team of The Hobbit are taking a lot of inspiration from LOTR – the only thing missing from this endles production quest is a tromp around Mordor. With various stoppings, stallings, funding problems and director drop-outs, we’re beginning to wonder whether The Hobbit will ever get made. And the most recent rumour? That David Yates – director of the last four Harry Potter films – will step up to helm it.

Oh dear oh dear, this seems to be a production that can’t catch a break. After numerous set-backs, problems and funding issues, director Guillermo del Torro has announced that he will no longer helm The Hobbit; the much awaited prequel of the Lord Of The Rings films.

Sir Ian, how could you bamboozle us so? Last week we reported that filming of The Hobbit would finally be getting underway around July, based on a confident assertion by the wizard with the mostest. It seems that Gandalf’s powers are waning however, as today it’s been reported that filming won’t be starting until the end of the year. And possibly not even then. Sigh.

After much speculation, rumour and set-backs, it could be that The Hobbit is actually going to start shooting in July. And how do we know? Cos Gandalf told us. Yeah. Put that in your elven bread and stab it to death with a big sword.

Planned Hobbit films get year-long delay. Planned for a December 2011 release, Variety hinted that Guillermo del Toro’s highly-anticipated adaptation won’t been seen until the “fourth quarter 2012”. As well as delays in writing the second film’s script, MGM’s upcoming sale has also thrown a spanner into the works.

David Tennant to play Bilbo Baggins? Maybe, according to a (quickly deleted) Tweet from his (now ex) Burke and Hare star Simon Pegg, who makes more than one hint at Tennant heading to Middle Earth…

No doubt Lord of the Rings geeks worldwide already worship him as a god among men, but Peter Jackson will henceforth be known by a more concrete title – he’s been knighted in New Zealand’s latest New Year’s Honours list.