Ian McKellen, who played the wizard Gandalf in the previous "Lord of the Rings" films, said on his Web site it was "hard to imagine" anyone but Jackson directing the latest installment of the series.

New Line Cinema said it was dropping Jackson due to a dispute over DVD royalties and had to pull the trigger to keep on the production schedule.

The BBC said Thursday that fans had organized an online petition drive to reinstate Jackson and have called for a possible boycott of New Line movies.