Sam Raimi to direct The Hobbit?

From syfyportal, "Sam Raimi may be looking to take a break from the Spider-Man franchise after all.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the director has been telling associates that he is indeed involved in bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit" to life for New Line Cinema, which is close to having its rights to the movie version of the novel expire.

It might seem like a rehash of a rumor that had originally floated around last November about Raimi, but this time, the story comes with a little more teeth. According to the Times, Raimi has told associates as well as some key executives at Sony that he would like to direct "The Hobbit," with two sources telling the west coast newspaper that they "have heard the words out of the director's mouth," according to Dark Horizons.

Raimi's possible involvement is the latest chapter in what seems to be a battle between New Line, which put together the original "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and its director, Peter Jackson. Feeling that not all the money the crew deserved was given to them by New Line for "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Jackson sued New Line last year asking for an accounting of the money earned from the movie and how it was distributed. That sparked a battle outside the courts between Jackson and New Line president Robert Shaye, which Shaye later told the media that Jackson would have nothing to do with 'The Hobbit' as long as he was in charge.

But New Line has to hurry if they actually want to be the studio to distribute "The Hobbit" and a planned sequel because time is running out before they lose te right to do so. MGM, which is a distributor of the Tolkien franchise, has made it clear they want to see Jackson at the helm.

Jackson has told the media that he is not interested in even discussing "The Hobbit" or any other film with New Line while his lawsuit is pending.

Besides the Spider-Man trilogy, Raimi has directed other genre films such as 1992's "Army of Darkness" and 1990's "Darkman." He also has acting credits to his name, including the role of Bobby Terry in the 1994 television miniseries "The Stand."