A Lion In Waiting

The lion of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is getting ready to roar again.

"Big" plans are under way to put the troubles of the studio in the past.

Will these plans bring Peter Jackson back to Middle Earth?

Will Arnold Schwarzenegger be back for another run as The Terminator---despite being the Governor of California?

Stax of IGN-Filmforce, with help from Variety, tries to sort out the particulars:

After years of ups-and-downs, MGM is getting back into the studio big leagues by planning a number of $150+ million tentpole films to be released over the next few years, including The Hobbit and Terminator 4.

MGM is also said to want Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson to direct The Hobbit, according to Variety. A report earlier this month at TheOneRing.net claimed The Hobbit was on New Line's schedule for a July 2007 start date. (New Line released the LOTR films.) But the Variety piece says The Hobbit is an MGM production. Are the studios teaming for the project?

Possibly. As Variety states, "(MGM's) goal is to release two or three tentpoles a year, all of which will be made with financial partners, including Wall Street money or other studios."

So if MGM is wooing Jackson, and is working with New Line on the film, does that mean Jackson has finally settled his lawsuit against New Line over profits from the LOTR trilogy? And how did such a settlement escape the notice of the media? IGN attempted to investigate these matters a few weeks ago but was met with stony silence from various parties.

Jackson did an interview today with Aint-it-Cool.com, which reports that "(Jackson's) never once talked to any studio, be it New Line or MGM, about doing The Hobbit. So, as of today Jackson has not talked to anybody about doing the movie, but he did say he'd like to do it, even though his schedule gets more crowded every passing week."

You can read the original Variety article by Jill Goldsmith and Nicole LaPorte by clicking here...

As the Summer of '06 proved, Blockbusting is a tough game to play...I wish 'em luck.