It has been talked about for months, and now it’s finally official: Guillermo del Toro is directing “The Hobbit”, an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book of the same name by New Line Cinemas. Del Toro officially signed the papers, and according to Variety he is packing up and moving to New Zealand for the next four years to be with “The Hobbit” producer Peter Jackson and the production teams at Wingnut.
“The Hobbit”, which is a prequel to the “Lord of the Rings” series, will be filmed over the course of two movies.  That explains why it will take four whole years. Once Del Toro finishes up post-production on “Hellboy 2″, he’ll be on the next flight out to New Zealand.
