The story surrounding MGM's The Hobbit has always been very intriguing. The movie was delayed yet again and again, has caused several major shakes since few weeks ago. Guillermo del Toro the original director left the production due to commitment on other projects. Since then, there's been so much discussion on who should take over. I have enlisted three possible and suitable directors (Alfonso Cuaron, Neill Blomkamp and Andrew Adamson) by the way which I think have the most resemblence to del Toro in terms of visionary. Peter Jackson has said that he will direct only if he need to while both Warner Bros and MGM have expressed strong interest in having him to direct. Besides him, there were few others that has been showing interests - David Yates, David Dobkin and Brett Ratner.
Screen Rant, Empire Online and TheOneRing(dot)net reported that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is currently the top potential director to take over del Toro's job. It's still a RUMOUR and no verification can be given at the moment. The news broke out at TheOneRing(dot)net claimed that the "spy report" is "cold, hard, unsurprising fact."
Now, first of all, I won't be surprise if Blomkamp is taking over the job form the Mexican director who has helped Jackson in various aspects of the production. Considering Peter Jackson and Blomkamp are close friends with the former taking up a mentor role over the latter, I think this will combination may works well. This formula first proved successful when Blomkamp managed to make some awesome concept on Halo movie before the project was scrapped. Then, they came with last summer surprise hit District 9 - earning Oscar nods for Best Picture and the Best Movie in Green Tea Movie. Indeed there are worries on whether Blomkamp can take on the challenge of The Hobbit since it is not anything closer to sci-fi action, I would only say that I know he can do a great job with this film. But another fact need to be considered is what is going to happen to the planned new sci-fi pic and District 9 sequel? Will he leave them if he was offered the lucrative contracts?
SOURCES: Screen Rant, TheOneRing(dot)net, Empire Online