First off, who the hell are Marketsaw and what are they smoking? Additionally, can I have some? Okay, so this site called Marketsaw claims to have received word that Peter Jackson will indeed direct The Hobbit -- split up into two different parts -- and that both films will be shot in 3D. Yup. Marketsaw. And the reason why we believe them is because most of their text shows up in these annoying red and green colors. They say they're "100% SURE that this is happening." We don't know who they talked to or how they acquired this information, but the site says an official announcement should be coming soon.

Apart from the two Hobbit films in 3D, Marketsaw also says Jackson will revisit his Lord of the Rings trilogy and convert all three over to 3D and release them between 2012 and 2014. If true, of course, this is the most unbelievable news, like, EVER! But we have no idea who these people are or where they're getting their information from, so for the time being you'll have to consider this a giant rumor. As recently as October, EW reported that tensions between New Line and Peter Jackson had lowered to a simmer, after both sides had been tied up in legal wranglings for well over a year. In that time, names like Sam Raimi had been tossed around The Hobbit project, but nothing official hit. We know New Line wants to make The Hobbit, and we know the fans want Peter Jackson to direct it, so could it be that both sides finally found civil ground and Jackson was given the go-ahead to split up the films and make them in 3D? I hope so. And if this does turn out to be true, kudos to Marketsaw for breaking the news we've been waiting to hear for a long, long time.

[via Cinema Blend]

Despite their great success with Pan's Labyrinth, which did pretty well in the U.S. for a foreign-language film, New Line apparently expects less of a mainstream reception for The Orphanage (El Orfanato). According to Variety, the studio is looking to remake the Spanish film, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona with supervision from Guillermo Del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth. Del Toro is actually on board to produce the English-language version, and if he's a good man, he'll make sure Bayona gets to redo his own work for a wider audience. Back when Picturehouse bought the distribution rights to The Orphanage, Del Toro said that Bayona's footage blew him away, so I can't imagine he'd prefer someone else to helm the remake. Of course, I'm shocked that he would be fine with the film being remade in the first place. If the original really is so good, there's no reason for an Americanized take on it. Knowing the way Hollywood works, though, it is more likely that another foreign filmmaker will make his English-language debut with this project, while Bayona will direct a remake of someone else's film (and so on).

Like many popular Spanish horror films, The Orphanage is a ghost story. Well, it features a supernatural imaginary friend, which sounds a lot like a ghost. The original, written by Sergio G. Sánchez, stars Bélen Rueda as a woman who returns to her childhood home with plans to turn it into an orphanage for disabled children. Unfortunately, her son gets a new imaginary friend, who just so happens to be the same imaginary friend that she had when she was a kid. And he terrorized her back then. Yep, sounds like he's actually a ghost. Last month, we shared the trailer with you, and while it didn't show much, it still had the promise of something truly creepy (did you see that scarecrow-faced kid?). Personally, I'd rather check it out as soon as possible than wait for the English-language version. Seriously, what's a few subtitles matter when you're being scared out of your wits? The original Orphanage played at Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals to good reviews, and it screens tonight at the Toronto Film Festival (from where our own Scott Weinberg is raving about it). Picturehouse, a partnership between New Line and HBO, is giving the film a limited release in December.

There may not be a Sopranos movie in the pipeline, but that doesn't mean Hollywood has officially whacked the Mafia. The LA Times reports that someone has finally landed the rights to produce a biopic on the life and times of infamous gangster, Lucky Luciano. Throughout the years, several Hollywood studios have tried to snag the rights away from Luciano's family, who have been reluctant to give them up. But now, producer Joseph Isgro (Hoffa) has somehow managed to land the goods, and he claims to have already approached a "specific A-list actor" to play the lead role. He's also said to be "wooing several actors from The Sopranos to join the cast." Considered the father of modern organized crime, Luciano was named one of the 20 most influential builders and titans of the 20th century. But he also helped orchestrate a number of gangland killings, as well as a massive international heroin operation, along the way.

According to Isgro (who's repeatedly denied his own ties to the Mafia), the film will cover all of Luciano's life, but focus mainly on his time in prison and the period after he received a presidential pardon for using the Mafia to help the government during World War II. Apart from actors, Isgro has also interviewed potential writers and directors; one of which is Charles Matthau, son of Walter Matthau. Currently, New Line is in talks to distribute. I'm not sure who they're going after to play Luciano -- hopefully it's not Christian Slater, who played the man in the 1991 flick Mobsters. There are a number of actors who could pull off the role; I guess it depends on whether they're willing to age-up a younger actor or age-down an older one. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say Alec Baldwin might be a good fit. What do you think?