Despite being a small creature, this Bilbo Baggins is causing huge amounts of problems.

Guillermo del Toro, who was handpicked by Peter Jackson to steer The Hobbit movies, has decided to leave his directing post for the two-part Lord of the Rings prequels because of ongoing troubles at the two studios behind the highly anticipated films, reports Eonline!

The studios are MGM and New Line.

“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming The Hobbit, I am faced with the hardest decision of my life,” Guillermo announced on TheOneRing.net fan site.  “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures.”

To prep the films with Jackson, del Toro moved with his family to New Zealand.  And shooting was planned to take way this summer for a holiday 2012 release.  But problems with MGM and New Line began as they couldn’t get their act together, and del Toro couldn’t wait any longer.

“The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project,” del Toro said.  “I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product .”

Aside from all of the problems, del Toro will remain as a co writer on the project, along with Jackson and his LOTR partners, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens.

But for now, the hunt for a new director has begun.  Possible candidates: Gandalf the Grey.

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A darker version of the Pinocchio tale is coming to the big screen, courtesy of “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” director Guillermo del Toro.

According to Variety, the Mexican director is developing a stop-motion animated feature of the fairy tale alongside Jim Henson Co. of “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show” fame.

Del Toro will serve as executive producer and is working on the screenplay with Gris Grimley, who will co-direct with Adam Parrish King.

Grimley previously illustrated a 2002 version of “Pinocchio.”

The puppet with the ever-growing nose debuted in the 19th-century book “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi and was first turned into a feature film by Walt Disney in 1940.

Del Toro will have to juggle this latest movie with half a dozen other projects. He is currently co-writing the two “Hobbit” movies and also signed a four-year deal with Universal Studios in September, which will include remakes of “Frankenstein” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

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Guillermo Del Toro may have won a ticket to Middle Earth.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker is in talks to take the reigns from Peter Jackson and direct “The Hobbit.” The J.R.R. Tolkien novel will reportedly be split into two films, with Jackson producing.

Del Toro has already built a strong following in the science fiction and fantasy crowd, with the Oscar-nominated “Pan’s Labyrinth” and cult hit “Hellboy.”

Jackson, who co-wrote and directed the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, is already committed to several other projects, so he will not be able to write the “Hobbit” script. The process of picking a writer will be fast-tracked once the Writer’s Guild of America strike has been resolved.

In the meantime, Del Toro already has a full plate with 12 projects in various stages of development.

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