Fans of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy who have been waiting forever for the production of the Hobbit can wait no longer. The long awaited bankruptcy holdout between New Line, MGM, and others has been settled.

BBC News - The Hobbit to begin filming in February next year

some key points of the article:

1. Peter Jackson will direct the two part movie
2. shooting will begin in Feb 2011
3. Doesnt say here, but elsewhere I have read that the movies will come out in Dec 2012 and 2013

I can finally stop holding my breath