Ananova is reporting today that:
“J.R.R. Tolkien’s great-grandson has backed Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson to make a film version of The Hobbit. Jackson has already said he’d be interested if a deal on the film rights can be agreed”
Hmmm. Might be worth while. If a film was ever going to be made, I’d guess now would be the time, before the sets and props developed for LOTR get too messed up by time and so on.