JACKSON — ER, DEREK — SAYS NOTHING’S DECIDED ABOUT “HOBBIT”

Despite trade reports on Monday claiming that Peter Jackson is in talks with Warner Bros./New Line and MGM to direct the Hobbit prequels, Jackson is insisting that “nothing has really changed.” In an interview with Harry Knowles, who runs the AintItCoolNews.com website, Jackson said, “I’ve always said that me directing was one option, and so that’s not really news. The studio are [sic] working out what that deal would look like, because how else do they know if it’s a viable option? But it’s honestly one of several different options.” Jackson then appeared to don his producer’s hat (he is a producer of the two Hobbit films), remarking, “What’s of great concern to everyone right now is trying to stay on schedule and not slip back another year, because we will start losing people — and that’s increasingly difficult as each day passes.” Knowles attributes the quote to a source named “Derek,” but, as TheOneRing.net website observed, in Jackson’s 1987 break-out film Bad Taste, the character of Derek was played by Jackson himself.