Who should direct "The Hobbit"?

[Thenamir]

There is an unconfirmed report on marketsaw.com that PJ may do exactly that - pass on the first two Tintin films to direct the third, which will leave him barely-adequate time to direct The Hobbit.

And as I voted for Sam Raimi but never defended my vote, I will do so now. First, Sam Raimi has indicated intense interest in the project - it wouldn't be "just another movie" to him, as it was not for PJ. Second, he has simultaneously professed respect for the existing work of Peter Jackson on the LOTR movies, and not keen to make radical changes in the style. Third, while the Spider-Man movies are not Fantasy per se, they do involve filming fantastic elements and making them look real. Raimi's work can be credited with virtually singlehandedly reviving comic-books (ahem, graphic-novels) as viable movie franchises.

So what if his last fantsy work was Xena? His work since then has been sterling, and I think he'd be a great choice.