There is a lot of buzz in the Tolkien community with the news yesterday that Del Toro was in ‘talks’ to direct the two ‘Hobbit’ films. Unfortunately a majority of the buzz is a case of bad reporting – as many have taken the title from the Hollywood Reporter article (‘Del Toro doubles up for ‘Hobbit”) as an official announcement. However, read the first sentence and we see he is not confirmed, only in ‘talks.’ Now another rumor has surfaced that Del Toro has verbally confirmed he will be directing both films during a screening of his new movie ‘The Orphanage.’ This news has surfaced on a French Tolkien website, which may be another case of lost in translation! So is it Del Toro or What? We don’t know – but we’re working hard to find out. If anything has been officially said by Del Toro we probably can expect announcement pretty soon! [Original Hollywood Reporter Article] [First Del Toro Rumor] [More Confirmation Rumors]