Entertainment industry watchers are abuzz whether he will sign on to direct The Hobbit, the prequel to LOTR (also written by J.R.R. Tolkien). Jackson, who has considerably slimmed down from his hobbit-like girth while he was doing the Middle-earth trilogy, has often remarked in the past that he would welcome the chance to direct The Hobbit as soon as the studios can work out the legal tangle surrounding the film rights.

Barely a few days ago, MGM announced that it was planning to co-produce the LOTR prequel with New Line Cinema. MGM chief executive and chairman Harry Evans Sloan also disclosed that the studio intends to ask Jackson to direct it, although insiders from Jackson's camp said that they have not received a definite offer yet.

On the heels of this news was the confirmation that Peter Jackson had optioned the rights for a screen adaptation of Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" fantasy series. This 3-book (so far) saga is a revisionist tale about dragons being harnessed as an aerial force during the Napoleonic wars.

Before these two huge projects can move beyond the planning stage, however, New Zealand's favorite son is likely going to be preoccupied in the next two years. Jackson is set to produce a remake of The Dam Busters, which is based on a book by Paul Brickhill. This British WWII film, which originally starred Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd in 1954, is a true-to-life account of how Britain built bouncing bombs to destroy dams in Germany. The filmmaker is also set to direct the screen version of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones by 2007. Moreover, he has signed on as the executive producer of the game-to-film adaptation of Halo (Microsoft/Bungie), which is expected to come out in the middle of 2008.

According to boxofficemojo.com's latest data, Dead Man's Chest's total global haul has already amounted to $1,002,597,000. In the US alone, the movie has grossed $415,097,000 (est.), which represents 41.4% of the overall total. In the process the movie has also established a slew of box office records including the highest opening-day gross ($55.83 million), and the fastest film to reach the $100M (2 days), $200M (8 days; in a 3-way tie with Spider-man 2 and Star Wars III) and $300M (16 days) marks.

Around the world, Dead Man's Chest, directed by Gore Verbinski, has grossed about $587.5M (58.6%) to date. This total does not include Italy, which will report its final tally on Sept. 15. The final film, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End, is scheduled for release in May 2007.

And no, this isn't a social commentary either. Instead, I'm focusing on the main cast, who -- as far as I'm concerned -- made this film truly enjoyable.

First and foremost, there's Meryl Streep. What else can you say about this superlative talent that hasn't been said before? Suffice it to say that whenever she plays a character onscreen, it's so easy to forget that you're only seeing an actress plying her trade (and not the real thing).

As the Great Arbiter of Taste and All Things Fashionable, Miranda (Streep) rules her kingdom with an iron fist (encased in a diamond-encrusted velvet glove, of course). She issues her decrees in a bored and disdainful upper-crust whine. When she snaps her fingers (or clacks her Manolos), her minions jump in all directions (preferably out of sight).

Picking Anne Hathaway to play Andrea Sachs is an apt choice. She is the right age (at 23) and has the looks and the screen charisma to ensure her celluloid presence. The way I see it, it's a good thing she looks this good; otherwise, she would've gotten swamped by the slick brilliance of the film's powerhouse cast.

Emily Blunt fits "Emily" to a T. She nails down the little details that make Emily's neurotic personality as incandescent as the rest of the major characters. Very effective and downright believable.

As Runway's charismatic creative director, Nigel, Stanley Tucci is note-perfect. Although he barely resembles his counterpart in the book (supposed to be a very tall Brit), he nevertheless makes a perfect foil to Meryl Streep's Miranda.

The actors playing minor characters are basically okay (Adrian Greiner, Simon Baker, Tracie Thoms), with no glaring miscues. And there's a huge difference between the film and book, particularly the ending. As for the production sets, the clothes, the shoes, the accessories, everything -- they are a visual feast.

"The Prestige" -- boasting a heavyweight cast composed of Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, David Bowie, Piper Perabo, and Andy "Gollum" Serkis -- is a tale of two rival magicians (Bale as Alfred Border and Jackman as Ruper Angier) who plied their trade in London around the turn of the century. Their fierce competition turns increasingly dangerous, prompting Angier's mentor (played by M. Caine) to suspect that Border has real magical powers.

What makes this film interesting is that both Jackman and Bale have recently played comic book heroes: as Wolverine and Batman, respectively. The Prestige, based on a 1995 book bearing the same title, alludes to the residue that remains after a magician has successfully performed his trick.

The same dual dilemma is also evident in "The Departed", which topbills Jack Nicholson as mob boss Frank Costello. A remake of the popular 2002 Hong Kong thriller "Internal Affairs", the movie also features Leonardio DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, etc.

DiCaprio stars as an uncover cop (Billy Costigan) who infiltrates the criminal syndicate headed by Costello, in a parallel move with Matt Damon (Colin Sullivan), a criminal figure who joins the police force as a "mole" for the mob. Both undergo intense stress and fine-tuned tightrope walking as they gather information for their respective sides without divulging their real identities.

Incidentally, this movie also marks the third time that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorcese have worked together.

Judging from the trailers of both movies, it looks like October is going to be a worthwhile month for moviegoers. The weighty names being bandied about and the high-caliber directors who are crafting these films should be a sufficient magnet for fans of both genres.

"United 93," helmed by British director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, Bloody Sunday) is a chilling account of what transpired during its fateful flight. The San Francisco-bound Boeing 757 plane (Flight 93), through the courageous act of its crew and passengers, was the only (out of four) flight that was able to thwart its captors' grim intent of turning planes into hurtling missiles.

The film, which features little-known actors and real-life figures (who are playing themselves in the movie) as well as airline and military personnel, was shown to the public with little bombastic fanfare that usually accompany big-budget Hollywood movies -- perhaps a more fitting and more respectful tribute to the plucky crew and passengers of U93, who were unwittingly thrust into the ghastly business of grappling with terrorists while everybody else was still struggling to understand the magnitude of that day's horrifying events.

My friends and I had planned to watch a different movie (at the time I had no firm idea about U93's play date) but when I saw U93 was on, I knew this was one movie I needed to watch.

With all that's going on these days (e.g., the failed terror plot in UK, unfinished business in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, etc.), U93 -- which runs like a documentary -- hardly offers its viewers an opportunity for closure. But like everybody else, I was curious to see what directors would do to cover the grim events of that day. Greengrass' spare, no-nonsense approach offers no sugarcoating nor does it attempt to milk blatantly sentimental, cinematic or righteous mileage out of the movie's grim subject. The cast was effective and the story inescapably gripping.

Another notable point was the way both sides were presented: the desperate passengers and the frantic hijackers locked in a deadly battle to wrench control of the plane -- and with that the chance to survive or to die for a reprehensible cause. Shots of terrified crew and passengers (praying, saying their goodbyes, crying, hatching plans to fight back) are interlaced with glimpses of anxious hijackers uttering fervent invocations as they struggle to bring their plans into fruition.

It's also interesting to note that, based on RottenTomatoes' tomatometer, U93 scored well among film critics (90%), with a few declaring U93 as one of the best features they seen so far this year (2006). Although some critics haven't checked in yet, WTC's rating is pegged at 72%.