The Hobbit has a director and a sequel

[flippyshark]

As much as I admired The Orphanage (and I did), does it really count as a Del Toro film? He didn't write or direct it. He's one of three producers, but I presume his name was used in the US mostly for marketing reasons. (Unless this is one of those Tobe Hooper-Steven Spielberg controversies a la Poltergeist.)

On the other hand, I saw Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth for the first time a few months ago, and I'm still recovering. I thought it was better than anything in Jackson's ouvre, including Heavenly Creatures. So, I'm psyched for that reason, but I really hope they change their minds and just make one incredible movie, not two. (Would they be drawing story material for this sequel from The Silmarillon? Like many others I know, I was unable to slog through that book.)

Pans' Labyrinth and The Orphanage would be a great double feature, though an exhausting one.