As expected, an interesting bit of follow-up news regarding Guillermo del Toro’s decision to no longer direct The Hobbit arrived today by way of a new article in the The Dominion Post (via The Playlist). They actually caught up with Peter Jackson himself and talked about the news and what it means for the project’s future The production is worth “many millions of dollars” to the city of Wellington’s economy, which is why they’re trying to do everything they can to keep things moving, too. “It was simply longer than anyone expected, the fans and the filmmakers,” del Toro told them about the film’s delay. But could Jackson return and direct?

The key bit of news was that Jackson could end up directing The Hobbit, if worst comes to worst and they don’t find anyone. “Jackson met studio representatives yesterday to begin the search for a new director but wouldn’t rule out directing The Hobbit himself if a suitable person could not be found.” But it’s not up to him. Like Bryan Singer, he has contractual commitments to other projects. “If that’s what I have to do to protect Warner Bros’ investment, then obviously that’s one angle which I’ll explore,” he says. But he has two other films in the works, one starting next year, and “the other studios may not let me out of the contracts.”

The Dominion says that the reported $150 million budget for The Hobbit is more of a “ballpark figure” and could be higher if they go 3D. Some are guessing that Guillermo was “kicked off” because he didn’t want to shoot it in 3D and New Line was unhappy. I don’t know if I believe that, so we’ll stick to the facts. Any idea when they’ll be shooting? “I just don’t know now until we get a new director. The key thing is that we don’t intend to shut the project down. We don’t intend to let this affect the progress. Everybody, including the studio, wants to see things carry on as per normal. The idea is to make it as smooth a transition as we can.”

We’ll obviously keep you updated on all the latest with The Hobbit. But for now, I’d like to open up the floor to discussion, since there’s a lot to consider about the future of this adaptation. Would you be happier seeing Peter Jackson return to direct both films again or should they find someone else new to direct, and who?

Discover More: Hype, Movie News, Opinions