In this morning’s roundup of movie news ‘n’ notes from around the web, “The Hobbit” loses its director, Woody gets a statue and Pixar nods to Chuck Jones.
On the heels of Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro telling the One Ring website that Del Toro won’t be directing the two movies based on “The Hobbit,” Anne Thompson wonders who will take over, assuming that the turmoil at MGM is resolved and the project goes ahead. She says the obvious choice is “Lord of the Rings” director Jackson, who’s co-writing and executive-producing the films. Jackson’s manager says he doesn’t have the time now but “he and Fran [Walsh] will stop at nothing to protect this franchise and the investment made by New Line, Warners and MGM.”