Director Peter Jackson, who scored a signal success with his brilliantly realized adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, may be headed back to Middle Earth to direct a two-film adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit.  If Jackson, as is expected, decides to take the reins of the Hobbit films, it will be popular move with fantasy fans who were nearly universal in their praise for Jackson’s handling of the LOTR trilogy.  Guillermo del Toro, who had moved his family to New Zealand to work on developing The Hobbit films with Jackson, abruptly left the project late last month citing scheduling delays (see “Hobbit Director Quits”).

If anything derails Jackson’s role in directing The Hobbit films, it will be scheduling delays, which are the result of MGM’s dire financial situation (MGM’s share of the rights to The Hobbit movies is seen as one of the studio’s major assets).  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson wants to begin directing the films now for release in 2012 and 2013.  Uncertainty about whether or not Warner Bros. will be able to proceed on schedule with the project led The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit to speculate that chances are about 50/50 that Jackson would end up helming The Hobbit.

Warners/New Line has been negotiating with Jackson over the past two weeks.  A decision from Jackson is expected in the next few days.