On September 22nd a petition with 39116 signatures upon it was delivered to MGM & New Line. It's aim? For the studio to get Peter Jackson and whatever members of "The Lord of the Rings" cast & crew back for the studio's forthcoming adaption of "The Hobbit".

Now this past weekend, The One Ring received a letter from MGM, with an official statement from Rick Sands, the company's chief operating officer. Here it is in full:

"Peter Jackson's phenomenal success with The Lord of the Rings trilogy makes him the first and most ideal choice for directing The Hobbit. MGM would be thrilled to collaborate with the Academy Award-winning director on this MGM New Line Cinema production. And, I'm sure to the delight of the 50,000 filmgoers who have petitioned us in recent weeks, demanding we bring this film to fruition, we have had a few initial conversations about the project with Mr. Jackson's representatives."