It’s not surprising really. After Golden Compass makes only $44 million during its first two weeks in the box office (Alvin and the Chipmunks made $11 million more than that in just its first week), New Line Cinema has announced that it has settled its differences with Peter Jackson and that he will produce two Hobbit films. Wait a second, produce? TWO?

While fans all over the world are rejoicing at this announcement, I have several concerns. The films will be shot simultaneously in 2009 in New Zealand and will use WETA and all of Jackson’s facilities, but I can’t say I’m not worried about Jackson not helming the project himself. Don’t get me wrong. I think an amazing film could still be made if Jackson produced and was still very involved with the inner workings of the project, but I think he is still the obvious best choice for the director’s chair. Ninety percent of participants in a poll at TheOneRing.net are willing to wait at least a year, 76 percent indefinitely for Jackson to direct.

Right now, the two directors rumored to be considered are Sam Raimi and Guillermo del Toro. Of these two, del Toro would be my first choice, even if I pretend Raimi never made Spider-Man 3. Raimi’s films are often campy. Also, with Spider-Man, Raimi openly admitted that his changes to the canon, especially changes in Spider-Man’s origins, were made so that he could identify more with the story. I’m afraid of the changes he might make to Tolkien’s world so that he will better “identify with it.”

Another thing that worries me is that there is no writer set. Hello? Why not use the people who did such a good job at adapting and shortening LOTR?

Probably the thing that worries me the most, though, is that there are going to be TWO films. At first, many people thought that The Hobbit would be split into two parts, and I think I would be fine with that. However, several sources say that the first film will be The Hobbit and the second will be a film that bridges the 60-year gap between Hobbit and LOTR. They say it will be pieced together from various notes and information found in the appendices. WHAT? There are so many segments of Middle Earth’s history that either JRR or Christopher have completed, but the media moguls decide they have to bridge the gap. Brilliant. I’m convinced that if anyone but the original writing trio for LOTR attempts to script this, it could be a disaster.

Of course, it could be a disaster anyway. At this point, only time will tell.