No... he likely wasn't... When he gets the ext Ed DVD for ROTK done, he's gotta run off and remake King Kong (Like we need yet another version of THAT!?!?!?)

There was some talk of him "Producing" a made for TV miniseries of The Hobbit... But where he'd find the time I can't imagine....

I also imagine him (With his lousy sense of humour) ruining The Hobbit with jokes about being short, and about Lembas farts...

He really is a lousy director... LOTR not withstanding...

(o.k... maybe not... but -I- haven't liked ANYTHING else he's done... )