It's been a while since we first heard that "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi could be in line to direct "The Hobbit" for New Line -- and now the director has actually spoken about the possibility. In other news, Kirsten Dunst says a "Spider-Man 4" without her or Raimi or Tobey Maguire would "flop."

In an upcoming interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mr. Raimi offered words like these: "First and foremost, those are Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye's films. If Peter didn't want to do it, and Bob wanted me to do it — and they were both okay with me picking up the reins — that would be great. I love the book. It's maybe a more kid-friendly story than the others."

So there you have it: Sam Raimi would gladly do "The Hobbit" if Jackson and Shaye give him their blessing. Too bad Jackson and Shaye disagree on just about everything these days. But the clock does seem to be ticking: New Line only has a finite (yet undetermined) amount of time in which to start the production before the rights revert back to someone else named Saul Zaentz. (Did any of that make sense?)

As to what this potential gig might mean for the "Spider-Man" series, well, Kirsten Dunst is making no bones about her feelings: "Audiences aren't stupid. It'd be a big flop without me, Tobey, or Sam. That would really not be the smartest move." -- with "it" being a "Spider-Man 4," of course.



Sony's production president makes things as clear as possible (for right now, anyway) when he says: "Listen, we're making Spider-Man 4. Our hope, dream, and intention is to do it with Sam. But I don't have a crystal ball." Boom, that's that. So let's just all enjoy "Spider-Man 3," which opens on May 4th. (Or one of the other flicks. You know you have 'em on DVD.)

Source: Entertainment Weekly