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Fans of "The Lord of the Rings" and Peter Jackson were thrilled to hear today that all legal action in the lawsuit against New Line Cinema has been settled, and Jackson, along with business partner Fran Walsh, will be executive producers of the film. At this time no director has been named.

Jackson and New Line announced jointly that the legal battle was over. "I'm very pleased that we've been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line," Jackson said. "We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle-earth."

The new project will be filmed similar to the original series: simultaneously. At the time of the original shooting it was considered a huge gamble because if the first movie didn't do well, the whole trilogy could have been doomed. I don't think that was ever going to happen though, as the fan base of the series was so strong and committed, it would have been more of a surprise if it didn't make it in a big way.

Bilbo Baggins, who played a much smaller role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, will be the center of this piece, as it tells the story of immediate events that led to finding of the ring of power, and the subsequent story following it.

The book, called "The Hobbit," - which I assume will be the name of the films as well - will be produced as two movies, and released separately.

It tells the story of Bilbo Baggins and his quest to confront a Dragon named Smaug. In this adventure he travels with 13 drawf companions and Gandalf the wizard. It is on this adventure where he finds the ring of power and makes first contace with Gollum.

Pre-production will start right away, and principal shooting photography in 2009. The films are scheduled to be released in 2010 and 2011.