Spidey Or The Hobbit?

Given the very public spat between director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema chief Robert Shaye over Lord of the Rings and matters of money...Folks have been wondering just who would direct the big screen version of JRR Tolkien's "Rings" prequel The Hobbit--if Shaye and Jackson don't make nice. How about writer/director Sam Raimi? While out promoting Spider-Man 3 Raimi spoke about the possibility to Entertainment Weekly... Adam Markovitz writes:

... Raimi went on the record for the first time about his potential involvement in the project during an exclusive interview with EW's Steve Daly for the magazine's Summer Movie Preview issue, on newsstands [this] Friday:

''Peter Jackson might be the best filmmaker on the planet right now. But, um, I don't know what's going to happen next for me right now. First and foremost, those are Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye's films. If Peter didn't want to do it, and Bob wanted me to do it — and they were both okay with me picking up the reins — that would be great. I love the book. It's maybe a more kid-friendly story than the others.''

(If Raimi were to take on a complex, intense project like The Hobbit — the rights to which New Line/MGM only has for a limited amount of time — it could force Columbia to either push back its production schedule for Spider-Man 4 or find a new director for the franchise.)

[Spidey franchise co-star Kirsten Dunst] says she hadn't heard any rumors about Raimi and The Hobbit until EW raised the subject in an interview. She says she can't imagine returning for Part 4 without both her director and her costar:

'It's disrespectful to the whole team, I think, to do that. And audiences aren't stupid. It'd be a big flop without me, Tobey, or Sam. That would really not be the smartest move. But they know that already. [Sony chief] Amy Pascal would never do that.'' Maguire has already expressed his ambivalence about returning for another sequel.

Sony's President of Production Matt Tolmach tells EW that the studio is cautiously optimistic about retaining the team that launched the Spidey franchise so spectacularly:

''Listen, we're making Spider-Man 4. Our hope, dream, and intention is to do it with Sam. But I don't have a crystal ball.''

Putting aside all of the mixed messages about a Spidey 4 for a sec, I think Raimi would do great things with the Hobbit were he the one taking over for Jackson.

As for Dunst calling Spider-Man 4 a flop--without "the team" in place": Sure, we've gotten used to certain folks in key places, but she would be wise to remember that everyone involved with a successful franchise can be replaced...Just ask director Richard Donner, (Superman) actors Val Kilmer, Billy Dee Williams, (both on Batman) Edward Furlong, (The Terminator) and actress Kirstie Alley (Star Trek)--Of course, there''s an easy way to solve the problem--They could all agree to do the fourth Spidey and that puts all of the chatter to rest for good.