The battle over who will control Middle Earth took yet another turn to start out the week as producer Saul Zaentz -- best known for movies such as "Amadeus" and "The English Patient" -- said he can guarantee Peter Jackson will be helming the film, that is when the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's works revert back to him next year.

"It will definitely be shot by Peter Jackson," Zaentz told the German-language site Elbenwald. "I suppose that Peter will wait becaus ehe knows that he will make the best deal with us."

Knowing that Zaentz stands to reclaim the rights to the film if something doesn't go into production before 2007's deadline, New Line and MGM have been working to put together both a feature based on Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit" as well as a prequel film linking together both "The Hobbit" and the Lord of the Rings trilogy that Jackson originally directed. However, Jackson feels he got a bum deal when it comes to his share of the take for 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which he has gone to court against New Line about. Jackson has made it clear he will not approach any film from New Line until the dispute is settled.

Although some replacement names have been bantied about, Zaentz said he expects that New Line will not be able to get all the cogs in motion in time, and that he will get the rights back. And when he does, Jackson will be on board because, according to Zaentz, "he knows that he will be paid fairly and artistically supported without reservation."

Zaentz acquired the publishing rights to the Lord of the Rings and "The Hobbit" in 1976, and created an animated version of two books from the trilogy in 1978.