Sam Raimi for The Hobbit?

It seems New Line studio is going ahead with filming The Hobbit, the story before Lord of the Rings. But the director will apparently not be Peter Jackson, who helmed the mega-hit trilogy. Instead, sources are saying it will be Sam Raimi, the man behind the Spider-Man movies. Jackson is out because his company has a lawsuit against New Line for money on Fellowship, and New Line will lose its rights to The Hobbit next year, which means they need to get moving on it and can't wait for the suit to be settled. Jackson explains his side in an email to TheOneRing.net.

I love the Spider-Man movies and so have nothing against Raimi. But Middle Earth is a very different place and the only director I would have the confidence in to make another film (or two, according to Jackson) there would be Jackson himself. (Of course, in all fairness, before Fellowship came out, few really believed Jackson was the guy who could pull it off, given his prior films.) As Ian McKellen puts it, "It's hard to imagine any other director matching his achievement in Tolkien country."

Having said that, Saul Zaentz, who owns the rights to the Tolkien work, is sure Jackson will make the movie, but only after New Line's rights run out.

I don't quite get all this about film rights. If New Line loses its rights next year, how would they get the film produced in time? Or is it that they just have to start working on it before losing the rights?

Regardless, given the high price tag that would go with any quality production of The Hobbit, it seems New Line should do everything they can to get Jackson on board. Any extra money they would have to pay him for Fellowship in a settlement would be well worth it to get him on board for the new movies.