He's a tricksy Hobbit, that Peter Jackson. After bringing in his pal in Guillermo Del Toro, he watched in dismay as William of Bull ran away from Middle Earth when MGM's financial breakdown stalled the whole production. But now the Lord of the Rings director has been sorting out the cast himself. Jackson's been in talks to park his bum back in the director's chair but nothing's official yet. Still, his hunt for Hobbit folks definitely comes under the heading of Good News.

Who has he met with? Nobody knows. But he's doing it on the quiet like, taking in London, New York and LA this past week trying to gather a group of actors for a project that doesn't exist yet. The world is waiting for Warner Bros. to fund the whole thing themselves (needing just a signature from MGM) but Jackson, it seems, is sick of waiting. 

The Kiwi has said before that he wants to do The Hobbit, but only if it gets into cinemas by 2012. If he can get an ensemble cast together ready for Christmas, then this just might be the first hairy footsteps towards a green light.