Forsooth and rejoice, sons of Aragost and daughters of Celebrían! Sure, all you Tolkien nerds knew it was only a matter of time until this happened, but still. The Hollywood Reporter has the news story that’ll get your elven panties all in a twist.

After protracted negotiations, Guillermo del Toro has closed his deal Wednesday to direct The Hobbit and its sequel for New Line and MGM.

The Mexican helmer will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work with The Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson, who is exec producing, and his Wingnut and WETA production teams.

Del Toro will helm the two films back to back, telling the story of The Hobbit, and its sequel, which will deal with the 60-year period between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the Rings trilogy.

The Hobbit was one of the first books I remember genuinely loving as a kid, and Del Toro is just fucking awesome. It’s pretty hard to not see this as excellent news.

As for what’s going to be covered in that second film—you know, the one not based on an actual Tolkien book, but rather pieced together to shamelessly empty the wallets of Legolas wannabes tell a rewarding and necessary story? Who knows? Keep your fingers crossed for some more vaguely homoerotic hobbit action, and perhaps an explanation as to why the only people who direct live-action hobbit movies bear creeeeeepy resemblances to hobbits themselves.