So Peter Jackson is definitely OUT as director of "The Hobbit." And then MGM and producer Saul Zaentz chime and say "well, maybe not." Meanwhile every movie site on the planet is grasping at the newest and most hopeful "Hobbit" news they can. Leave it to the New York Times to get us all up to speed.

From the NYT: " he contretemps over “The Hobbit,” those involved say, is really about the lawsuit over revenues from the “Lord of the Rings” series, which has taken in a staggering $2.9 billion in box office receipts alone.

In February 2005 Mr. Jackson sued New Line, saying he was owed money from the trilogy. Mr. Jackson has said he sued over profits from “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” after he was unable to get New Line to submit to an independent audit of its books. The lawsuit, which was unsuccessfully mediated, still has no court date, and so far no audit has taken place. New Line executives have complained that Mr. Jackson has become vastly wealthy from the Tolkien trilogy and is unjustifiably portraying himself as a victim."

Click here for the rest of the article. Oh, and to see what Elijah Frodo Wood thinks of the situation, click here.