Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct the planned back-to-back film adaptations for J.R.R. Tolkien‘s classic tale The Hobbit.

As previously reported the two films will be produced by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, the masterminds behind the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, for MGM and New Line studios.

The two Hobbit films will be shot simultaneously, with principal photography tentatively set for a 2009 start, with the intention of The Hobbit release slated for 2010 and its sequel the following year. The production budget is estimated at $150 million per film. While del Toro and Jackson will oversee Hobbit‘s writing, no one has been hired to pen the adaptations because of the current writer’s strike.

The Hobbit is a prequel to the events of the LOTR trilogy. The story follows the adventures of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Frodo’s uncle), who travels away from home with the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwalves, which leads to an encounter with the creature Gollum and the finding of the One Ring.

Del Toro is currently finishing up his Hellboy sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army, due in theaters on July 11, 2008, and produced the recently released Spanish horror film The Orphanage.

[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

UPDATED 2/1/08: Guardian confirmed that Guillermo del Toro WILL be directing. The announcement was made at the French premiere of The Orphanage, a Spanish horror film that Del Toro helped produce.