EW reports that Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson spoke to the public at Comic-Con in San Diego following a screening of Neill Blomkamp's District 9, which he his producing. Jackson spoke about both The Hobbit, which is being directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), and his own The Lovely Bones, due in theaters this December.
Jackson will deliver a script for The Hobbit in a few weeks, and he says that work on the movie is still very preliminary.
We don't have a budget. We don't have a green light. We can't offer any actors roles til then.
Meanwhle, Jackson screened a short clip for The Lovely Bones ahead of the release of the first official trailer on August 7. The movie tells the story of a 14-year-old girl — portrayed by Saoirse Ronan — who is murdered and afterwards watches over her family from heaven. She also sees her killer (Stanley Tucci) and struggles with a desire for revenge. Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz play the girl's parents.
Although the subject matter of the movie is grim, Jackson finds humor in the main character.
She's wonderfully funny. She feels no self pity and makes ironic, wry observations.