THE HOBBIT NEWS

More Mentions That Hobbit Might Be Delayed Until Late 2012

by Ethan Anderton
January 23, 2010
Source: Variety

The continuing debacle of selling and restructuring MGM is one huge obstacle in the way of Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro's two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Previously, Jackson and Del Toro had confirmed that The Hobbit would still meet its December 2011 release date, but unfortunately MGM's woes have become their own. Buried deep in an article about New Line's restructuring and upcoming slate, Variety points out head honcho Alan Horn "won't predict when the first of the two 'Hobbit' films will be out, but says the most probable scenario would be a release in the fourth quarter of 2012." Uh oh!

At least there's some good news as the article also confirms that Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen will indeed make return appearances in The Hobbit as Smeagol and Gandalf the Grey respectively. But unfortunately we won't see them back in Middle Earth too soon because New Line shares financing rights with MGM, which bought the original rights in 1969. The complications arise because MGM could conceivably sell those rights as part of their restructuring. Still, once the script for the second film is in, New Line will work up a budget for both films and start casting soon. While it's still not official, it looks like we will be waiting until 2012.

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