Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have all now officially signed on to collaborate with director Guillermo del Toro on the two new Lord of the Rings films, according to Variety. Del Toro is set to begin shooting the films, which will be based on the novel The Hobbit, late in 2009 with planned release dates of 2011 and 2012. The last film in the Rings franchise was 2003's Return of the King, which grossed $1.13 billion worldwide and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.