After about a million lawyer man-hours of negotiation, it has been announced that Peter Jackson's dispute with New Line has been settled and that he will produce two films based on The Hobbit. MGM knows there's more gold than just one gold ring in the franchise. It's not clear, with the writers' strike still in progress, how the projects will move forward, but most of the major stars have indicated informally that they want to be on the team again. A director has yet to be named, but the films will be done at the same time, with releases in 1210 and 1211.