At the French premiere of "The Orphanage," when the host introduced Guillermo del Toro, he confirmed that he had officially been handed the reins of "The Hobbit."
"Today is a big day because we are announcing what everyone wanted to hear, which is that he will be directing The Hobbit," said the host.
The Hobbit is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and tells the story of Bilbo Baggins and the adventure that led him to ultimately finding the ring of power, which the "Rings" was based on.
Some of the concerns of diehard fans if if del Toro will bring a darker side to the film, as mentioned here, and take away some of the lightness and levity the others brought with them.
The director has a lot of experience in fantasy, but his other projects like Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy and the above mentioned The Orphanage, have a much darker theme to them.
Although they're legitimate concerns, I don't think Peter Jackson would allow things to take too much of a turn that way, and will have a leveling influence in that regard.
The Hobbit will be presented as a two-film series, with each having a budget of around $150 million. Production is slated for 2009, with the films scheduled to be released in 2010 and 2011.
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