Peter Jackson is still working on the script for the second of two Hobbit films and doesn’t think it will be finished until late this year or early 2010.  Filming of the two Hobbit movies, which are going to be shot back-to-back, was originally slated to begin in March, but now Jackson indicates that he hopes “to start filming in the middle of next year,” after he finishes the scripts and comes up with “the exact calculation of the necessary budget.” Jackson is working on the screenplays for the two films with Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens, and director Guillermo del Toro.

Jackson told the German website moviereporter.net that the Hobbit team has not yet received a green light from the studio, though given the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a studio go-ahead is probably largely a formality once the filmmakers submit their budget.  What could be more problematic is the December 2011 debut date for the first Hobbit film.  It was more than two years after filming began in October of 1999 on the LOTR trilogy that the first film opened in December of 2001.  Working on The Hobbit Jackson will have the advantage of all the knowledge and experience he and WETA gained in making the LOTR trilogy as well as common locations and sets such as Bag End and Rivendell that could be used again in The Hobbit.