Hey what’s up with The Hobbit? If you have a Sting replica hanging on the wall over your desk (which I do), then you probably wonder that at least once a week. You probably also sleep with a Samurai sword under your bed so don’t even think of trying to break into my house to steal the One Ring. I will cut you down.

What’s up with The Hobbit is, unfortunately, not much. The stalwart dwarfs over at ComingSoon managed to find an update from Guillermo del Toro on his message board on that very subject. Del Toro you’ll remember, is the frontrunner to direct the movie (don’t hate folks, Peter Jackson doesn’t want the job), but New Line Cinema… or whatever is left of it after their corporate merger, is taking its sweet ass time about locking him up and making this happen.

From what del Toro says, not much as changed, though he does sound upbeat. When asked if he officially has the job yet, Guillermo says, “Whew- Not yet. BUT there has been a lot of movement. And for the last few weeks there has been a lot of creative / cast / crew / visual talks and agreements and we have witnessed great progress in areas that I cannot disclose or that have already leaked from other sources. I am dying to share news but I have to be patient and wait until the papers are done and my attachment is real. Nevertheless- a LOT of progress in defining the films, their cast and crew. And, may I add, we are all happily in synch about all creative aspects so far and all willing and eager to move forth.”

As for when we may finally hear something concrete about what’s going on with the Hobbit movie, he says, “Expect good things in the next 2 weeks and a nice item at COMICON.” Thanks Guillermo. You’ve just justified the outrageous hotel prices Rafe and I are paying to stay in San Diego this summer.