The whole pre-production phase of The Hobbit has been a non-stop soap opera. First, MGM announces that it's broke and needs to find a buyer, shelving the project indefinitely. Next Guillermo del Toro, not willing to stick around for the long haul, decides to fold-up shop and leave the project entirely. Then there has been the whole will they-won't they relationship between Peter Jackson and the directors chair and, most recently, the statement by Ian McKellen that he won't stick around forever. All caught up? Good, because the circus continues.

THR's Heat Vision Blog is reporting that Jackson has been on a world-spanning trip that will has had him meeting with potential members of the Hobbit cast. Included on this trip were Los Angeles, New York, and the U.K. The director is doing so without the project having received a green-light yet. On the positive side, the article confirms that Jackson is currently in negotiations with Warner Bros. to direct the project himself, the sticking point continuing to be the MGM crisis.

It's because Jackson is taking time out of his schedule to make this trip that he ultimately needs to be the one to helm the project. There is absolutely no guarantee that this film will ever be made yet Jackson still has the passion for it to fly around the globe and talk to the people that he wants to be involved. Until the struggling studio is either sold or lucks into some quick cash, the project will continue to exist in purgatory, but at least one man is still trying to remain proactive.