As most people know, JRR Tolkien wrote a book prior to The Lord of the Rings called The Hobbit. in a nutshell, The Hobbit is the story of a younger Bilbo Baggins (Uncle Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings films) who sets off on an adventure with the wizard Gandalf and a crusading group of Dwarves on a quest to retrieve their mountain and treasure from an evil dragon. Along the way Bilbo meets an evil creature named Gollum and steels his most precious possesion... a magical ring! Dun Dun DUUUUNNNN.

Lots of people are DYING to see a movie for The Hobbit, me included. However, there are some snags. For example, the rights to The Hobbit are owned by both Sony and New Line... and the two aren't playing nice with each other right now.

Recently, Peter Jackson explained the dilemma. The following is from the good folks over at FilmForce:

"MGM used to own The Hobbit and then MGM got bought by Sony a few months ago, and so now Sony have the rights — or half of The Hobbit rights, and New Line have the other half. Now, New Line and Sony have to talk to each other and I don't think that anyone's going to call me until those rights issues are resolved. That's entirely between them, so…"

Renowned fantasy artist Alan Lee, who worked for Jackson on both the Lord of the Rings and King Kong, seems to think a movie is still being planned, however. During a presentation of his new book, The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook, in Milan, Lee said that he expected The Hobbit to be made three or four years from now. Lee also answered a few questions for Bad Taste.it, expressing his interest in developing concept artwork for the LOTR prequel

But as I've said in the past... the most powerful force on earth will ensure this movie gets made. Love? No my friends... love will now get this movie made. GREED will. Sony and New Line will both be able to print their own free money with a Hobbit the Movie. They'll work things out. I still expect an announcement within 2 years. We'll wait and see.