From TheOneRing.net:
Guillermo Del Toro departs “The Hobbit”: Guillermo Del Toro announced today that he is no longer directing the two movies based on J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”, but will continue to co-write the screenplays.
C’mon MGM, get the deal done! I can’t believe we lost this visionary director for this project! At least he’ll continue on as writer, so that’s something.