[Sauron the White]

and this just in from totalfilm.com
===========================================

World Exclusive: Del Toro clears up Hobbit rumours!
It’s NOT happening yet, Guillermo tells Total Film…
01 Feb 2008 4:11pm


“Well, the reality is that the Hobbit story has broken early because the negotiations have not ended and The Hobbit is not a sure thing.”

That’s Guillermo del Toro setting the record straight. With all the talk flying about the Pan’s Labyrinth helmer apparent sign-on to direct The Hobbit, Total Film called up our good buddy Guillermo to get the facts direct from him.

“The reality is, I will know that it's happening when we have the final word and I am fully and officially on board,” del Toro tells Total Film.

“I think what happens very often is that these rumours have a way of becoming real or not. I don't expect The Hobbit to be troublesome. But you know, then again, it may never happen... or it may!”

But make no mistake, del Toro does want this. Badly. “I would LOVE it,” says GDT. “I bought all the Tolkein books that were available in Mexico when I was 11 years old, but the one that I read at 11 years old was The Hobbit. So it left an indelible mark in my imagination.”

For the full story on The Hobbit, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and much, much more, make sure you read the full interview with del Toro in the April Issue of Total Film, out 21 February.

In the meantime, stick close to TotalFilm online for more GDT updates. “You know the beauty of The Hobbit, if it were to happen,” adds del Toro, “is that The Hobbit, out of all the books, is the one that resembles more a fairytale.

"I loved this very Hitchcockian idea of a very proper, prissy character with a very limited universe being taken on a journey where danger and pain and loss ultimately enhances his view of the world. And that to me is a very, very powerful story…”