[Lush]

I adore PJ, but if it's not meant to be, then...

Alfonso Cuarón is a great director. He did a magnificent Harry Potter 3, rescuing the saga from the clutches of Chris Columbus' bumbling mediocrity. He has an eye for the whimsical, and his films are gorgeous. He has also grown incredibly since "Great Expectations."

Mike Newell did a great job with the latest Harry Potter. I think humour is his greatest strength, and I think that he would make an awesome candidate, particularly when you look at the material he would be dealing with. And visually, the film was awesome as well.

And Guillermo del Toro! I loved "Hellboy," and I am hearing good things about "El Laberinto del Fauno" (Pan's Labyrinth) - it looks stunning. Ok, so he also did "Mimic," but then again, PJ was responsible for "The Frighteners" - so that doesn't mean anything. Del Toro has a brilliant, twisted imagination. He might make "The Hobbit" slightly darker - even in terms of something as simple as colour and the attention to detail. I think that could really work.

Then there is Julie Taymor - director of "Frida," which was so magical and vivid that I have little doubt that she could do great things with The Hobbit.

Luc Besson is also someone that I would look at closely for this. His commercials alone show what he is capable of.

Hungarian director Nimród Antal did a beautiful underground fairy tale called "Kontroll." I could not believe that this was his first feature film. He would be right for this story.

Then there's Kasi Lemmons - of "Eve's Bayou" and "The Caveman's Valentine." Also absolutely magical, imho.

I believe that someone like Sofia Coppola may do a surprisingly great job. She could probably do a departure from her usual subject matter - and do it well, and the way she films nature is amazing. I think Coppola could do great things with the Shire, the Misty Mountains, etc. - as long as the budget is decent. And she would handle the humour really well. People don't think that she could ever do a movie with a lot of outward scope, but I think she has it in her.

And, of course, people have already mentioned Tim Burton,