Last week came the sad news that acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro had stepped down from helming the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. For a film that has been in limbo since 2004, this announcement seemed like the death nail to the much anticipated Tolkein adaptation.


However, Ian McKellen, who played the wizard Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films posted on his Twitter account today that the project is still in production: "Hobbit sets are ready, script ready and movie is casting this month. Fans are not to worry." So despite the lack of a director, The Hobbit is still ready to go. Now we may not see the release as soon as earlier expected, but we certainly have not heard the last of this project.