8.10.07: New Line tries to make amends with Jackson over The Hobbit

Jackson may return to the shire after all, Vaughn hits hammer on the head for Thor, I Know Who Killed Me director speaks out on Lohan, and more

New Line actively negotiating to bring Jackson back for The Hobbit

The Los Angeles Times’ Patrick Goldstein writes about the uncertain future of New Line Cinema in his column this morning, but one thing that he can be certain about is New Line’s attempts to woo Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson back to somehow participate in the studio’s planned adaptation of The Hobbit. Studio head Bob Shaye, who famously once told SciFi.com that Jackson would never work for New Line again while he’s running the studio, told Goldstein, “Notwithstanding our personal quarrels, I really respect and admire Peter and would love for him to be creatively involved in some way in The Hobbit.” More at the Los Angeles Times. Also make sure to check out James Cameron's thoughts on Peter Jackson's dispute with New Line over The Hobbit as well as a recap of the entire situation here.

RELATED ARTICLES:
• Down Under's Greatest Contributions to Film
• New Zealots of New Zealand
• Lord of the Rings quiz
• Inside King Kong
• Four Hobbits Walk into a Bar
• Lord of the Rings by the numbers
• Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• Viggo Mortensen: The Hero Returns

Vaughn hammers down Thor for Marvel

Stardust director Matthew Vaughn has already lined up his next project, an adaptation of Thor, Marvel Comics’ blond hammer banging superhero. I Am Legend scribe Mark Protosevich wrote the script. More at Variety.

Kingsley, Janssen have The Wackness

Ben Kingsley will lead an ensemble cast including Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Method Man, and Josh Peck in the dark comedy The Wackness about a drug dealer (Peck) and a psychiatrist (Kingsley) who forge a kinship until the dealer begins romancing the shrink’s daughter. Jonathan Levine, who directed the Sundance fave All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, will handle the helming duties for Occupant Films. More at The Hollywood Reporter.

Big is back as Noth signs on for Sex

Chris Noth has officially signed on to play Sarah Jessica Parker’s elusive beau Mr. Big in the big screen version of Sex and the City. Production starts in September with the series’ executive producer Michael Patrick King directing. More at the Los Angeles Times.

How Lohan’s behavior Killed one indie filmmaker’s career

SXSW’s Matt Dentler interviews Chris Sivertson, a promising indie filmmaker whose first studio film was the unfortunately timed Lindsay Lohan thriller I Know Who Killed Me. While generally upbeat about the film, Sivertson describes how the film was fasttracked and how he is upset at media perception of the film’s box office: “After the opening weekend, they were happy to proclaim that we had “tanked.” Bratz and Hot Rod came out the next weekend and when you look at the amount of screens they were on, they basically had the same box office results we did. But come Monday morning, those films “had difficulty finding an audience in a crowded marketplace.” More at Matt Dentler’s Blog.

Sutter enters the Dragon remake

Warner Independent and director Kurt Sutter, an executive producer of The Shield, will update Bruce Lee’s classic kung fu epic Enter the Dragon with a new noirish take called Awaken the Dragon. More at Variety.