In a grand 'nothing-new' announcement, it seems that Guillermo Del Toro will be directing The Hobbit! Why this is news now, again, I don't know! however, there is mention that as well as the Hobbit, we are also going to get a movie that takes place in between The Hobbit and LOTR, not sure if that means we'll get 2 movies (one of the Hobbit and one for the other) or if it will be three (two for the Hobbit and one for the other).
http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=22440