The New York Post is reporting that Spider-Man 3 director Sam Raimi has been approached by New Line Cinema to direct The Hobbit - the prequel to the highly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy.  The news comes on the heels of New Line Co-Chairman and Co-CEO Bob Shaye stating Peter Jackson would not be directing the prequel due to his suing the studio for additional Lord of the Rings profits.

No deal for Raimi to take over directing reigns on The Hobbit has been made and appears unlikely as Raimi is currently working hard on finishing Spider-Man 3 and has several projects in the pipeline already including The Shadow, Doc Savage and possibly a fourth Spider-Man film.