11 Possible Hobbit Directors

Now that Guillermo del Toro has quit The Hobbit, who will take over as director? Considering the movie is in jeopardy, since doomed MGM holds the rights, del Toro's replacement "has to be somebody who doesn't have much to lose in taking on a project with a 50% probability of total implosion," writes Andrew O'Hehir on Salon. He offers up 11 candidates:

• Peter Jackson: He did, after all, direct the Lord of the Rings trilogy...and although his manager issued a vague not-quite-denial, Jackson himself has said it's not entirely out of the question.

• Alfonso Cuarón: "He made the best of the Harry Potter movies along with a terrific adult-oriented sci-fi film," he's del Toro's occasional partner..."he's pretty much the perfect choice."
• Chris Columbus: "Yeah, he's a hack. He's also a moneymaker"—and he "would make the investors sigh with relief."
• Sam Raimi: He's "a splashy, frantic, action-oriented filmmaker who's all show and no tell." But he was supposedly interested in the gig—and Spider-Man 4 collapsed—so "he remains a plausible choice."
• Neill Blomkamp: Considering he's a Jackson protégé and he had great success with District 9, "he'd be the obvious choice, if the whole thing were really up to Peter Jackson. It isn't."

For the complete list, click here.
(More The Hobbit stories.)