Tolkien’s son is making one last-ditch effort to block the production of The Hobbit:
… at a hearing on June 6 Christopher Tolkien will ask a Californian judge to back his claim that he can “terminate” film rights to The Hobbit. He is said to be furious with the New Line studio, which earned £3 billion from the Rings trilogy. Tolkien’s lawyers accuse New Line of “accounting chicanery”. Warner Bros, owner of New Line, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Jackson and del Toro are moving forward with production, announcing that Sir Ian McKellen will return as Gandalf the Grey, Andy Serkis will be back as Gollum, and that Viggo Mortensen has been asked to reprise his role as Aragorn (even though Aragorn wasn’t in The Hobbit).