Fans of Peter Jackson's LOTR have been taking succor over the last couple of days from a snippet of an interview given by Tolkien Enterprises' Saul Zaentz. The interview, which first surfaced here on Elbenwald quoted Zaentz saying the Hobbit would "defitely be shot by Peter Jackson".

Now, WorldofKJ is reporting that the orginal source is German magazine Cinema, and that publishing lags mean the interview could well have been given several weeks ago. It's unclear what this means for the Hobbit. In the short term, it appears Jackson will have no involvement with New Line (since the break-up came after Zaentz's interview), but the production rights will still revert to Zaentz "next year". And that deadline could still be something that forces a compromise from New Line somewhere along the way. [More]