Rumors have been floating around for awhile that Sam Raimi of "Spider-Man" fame was being considered for taking over the helm of "Lord of the Rings" prequel, "The Hobbit." Now some top-level insiders are saying that Raimi is now seriously looking at the possibility; saying they've heard it come directly out of Raimi's mouth.
With Bob Shaye of New Line Cinema saying concerning Peter Jackson, "He will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working at the company," the chances of a reconciliation seem small. Jackson is currently suing New Line saying the company still owes him money from the "Lord of the Rings" project.
The Hobbit, according to a New Line source, they are not only thinking of one "Hobbit" picture, but two. The prequel will deal with the story of how Bilbo Baggins came across the evil ring of power, the center of the "Lord of the Rings" tale.
While this adds some interest to the continuing controversy concerning the project, this is far from a done deal. As of now there are no deals by New Line with Raimi in place. Another huge problem that would need to be overcome would be the compliance of MGM, which holds distribution rights to the film. They say concerning Jackson: "We support Peter Jackson, and when the dust settles, we believe he is the one who will be making this movie."
From the "Spider-Man" side of things, this would be a big hit to Sony (SNE), as Raimi is responsible for giving the webslinger the unique visual effects so many have become accustomed to. Sony studio head Amy Pascal has plans for the Spidey franchise to extend to six installments.
Losing Raimi would be similar to "Rings" losing Jackson. Even though they're both quality directors, there's a feel they give to the films that probably aren't reproducible.
Essentially, even with this news, we really aren't much further along in solving the problem other than knowing that if the obstacles were removed, and Raimi was offered the job, he would probably take it.
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