Merrick here...
Earlier this week, we posted a message from Checkyr. He told us that Peter Weir was being approached to direct THE HOBBIT…more or less concurrently with efforts to bring Sam Raimi aboard. In that posting, we indicated Checkyr was an untried source, and that his “information” should be taken with a “grain of salt”. It should be noted that (to the best of my knowledge) we haven’t heard back from anyone refuting Checkyr’s assertion…nor have we fully confirmed it. Which means, we should approach the following while sucking on the same grains of salt… Checkyr wrote back with a few more details about THE HOBBIT’s search for a director, offering-up the names of other folks The Powers That Be would approach should both Raimi and Weir fall through. Checkyr emphasizes that THESE DIRECTORS HAVE NOT BEEN APPROACHED AT THIS TIME – they may never be approached should Raimi or Weir sign on. This is simply a “a hit list”, if you will. A “wish list”. Here are the names in the order they were given to us. I’m unclear if the order of these names indicates a level of preference, or if they were thrown at us randomly. I tried to follow-up with Checkyr about this via e-mail, but he did not respond.
STEPHEN SOMMERS. He’s always struck me as Uwe Boll on steroids, although I don’t recall disliking any Uwe Boll film as much as I disliked VAN HELSING. I love the design of his movies, I love the way they’re shot. I love the spirit he’s trying to go for. But, I just can’t get away from the feeling of reckless self-indulgence his movies convey. No matter how Geeky-cool they may be in principle, I sense smarm oozing from every one of them.
MICHAEL BAY. I’ don’t hate Michael Bay movies. In fact, I really kinda like them (the jury is still out on TRANSFORMERS – I’ve yet to see it). This said, I don’t think Michael would be right for this particular project. Too....much. On a side note, I respectfully disagree with the recent Talkback sentiments that Michael Bay would’ve fucked up DIE HARD 4. With Bay, at least we’d be assured some level of gusto and bravado (which the title “DIE HARD” inherently demands). I’m not convinced Wiseman will bring this to the equation.
BRAD SILBERLING. Because...SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS knocked it so far out of the park? I did like some of its style and visual elements, but never bought into the characters or their universe. I enjoyed looking at it, but I didn’t live in it. And, finally…
BILL CONDON (DREAMGIRLS, GODS AND MONSTERS). A completely “out of left field” option that actually makes some level of sense. He has bag loads of visual flare & an accessible sense of character.
So... One common thread in all of these directors is that (presuming this list is legit), all of the directors we’ve heard about thus far (Raimi and Weir included) tend to be heavy on aesthetic and design, and most tend to direct with flair and energy. Only two of them (Bay and Sommers) could be seen as flimsy in the character department. So, there you have it. All we can do now is sit back, see where this goes, and gab about it in the Talkbacks below. Again, a grain of salt...

KNOW MORE???