Peter Jackson in talks with New Line over The Hobbit?

point of view lin January when they said that they would never work with the 'arrogant' Peter Jackson ever again after Jackson issued court orders to sue the company, and they certainly would never let him direct The Hobbit. In an unexpected move, the studio founder Bob Shaye (the guy who made those statements above) came out with the following quote with the Los Angeles Times asked whether they were in talks with Peter Jackson for the much delayed Hobbit movie...

"Yes, that's a fair statement. 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.'"

Now let's just calm ourselves down before we get over-excited here. All Shaye has said is that he would love for him to be involved somehow, that doesn't necessarily mean directing the movie. It could simply be the case of working with his Weta company or Jackson being involved as executive producer or something. The executive producer gig is actually what IESB believe is going to happen, with Sam Raimi actually directing it which just sounds awesome to me. Though I would rather see his take on Clash of Titans and doing The Hobbit might put that in doubt. But there's still hope for Lord of the Rings fans here wanting Jackson to give them another movie. After all, this statement is a complete reversal on Shaye's stance last year, either because of the lack of potential candidates for the film or the fact that time is now really running out on their lease to make the film. Is Jackson helming The Hobbit for New Line actually a good thing though? Certainly if there was no baggage, he is creatively the best man for the job but he would essentially be working for the studio he is suing for lost revenue. That sort of environment could easily effect the film. As usual with The Hobbit, we come back to Peter Jackson. Is it actually going to go anywhere this time?