Since Peter Jackson has other obligations, he’ll not be directing the two upcoming “The Hobbit” movies. He will executive produce The Hobbit, now that he’s settled his lawsuit with New Line Cinema. Directing duties are falling to Sam Raimi, who’s probably best known for directing the first three Spiderman films, Evil Dead, The Messengers, 30 Days of Night (video clip below), and various other horror filcks.

Filming is supposed to start immediately. Raimi is also directing Wizard’s First Rule for 2008, a TV mini-series based on Terry Goodkind’s popular “Sword of Truth” adventure-fantasy novels. In addition, he’s producing several TV series and movies. 2008: Wizard’s First Rule, Drag Me to Hell, Dibbuk Box; 2009: Armored, The Grudge 3, The Evil Dead, Priest, and an untitled project.