Writing Underway on The Hobbit

The OneRing.net has learned, which has now been confirmed by the trades, that writing has begun on The Hobbit, which will be two films and arrive in theaters December 2011 and December 2012.

Producer of the film Peter Jackson and director Guillermo del Toro were searching for writers when they decided to write the film themselves.

The duo are now writing both films along with Frank Walsh and Philippa Boyens, both of whom collaborated with Jackson on the Rings trilogy. Jackson initially said he would not be writing the Hobbit movies because of other commitments, but his schedule has now opened up.

The Hobbit, written by Tolkien for his children years before the Rings trilogy, follows a young Bilbo Baggins, who finds his comfortable life turned upside down when the wizard Gandalf takes him on a journey for a hoard of treasure that involves trolls, humans, Gollum and his ring of invisibility and a dragon named Smaug.

The films will be shot simultaneously, with principal photography tentatively set to start late 2009.