'The Hobbit' Release Might Be Delayed Until 2012

We wondered about this a few days ago, and now it's come to fruition, unfortunately. It looks as though The Hobbit will be pushed back to 2012 instead of opening in December 2011. Admittedly, our own speculation was due to the imminent sale of MGM, which begged bondholders on its billions of dollars in debt to forgive interest payments (massive though they are) through the first few months of next year to afford the studio the opportunity to get the ball rolling on the mighty expensive Tolkien adaptation. Regardless of what happens there, it might not move forward for a few months, anyway. If you'll recall, Peter Jackson had stated that another round of script revisions were necessary, meaning the project probably couldn't go into production until summer 2010. Now The Wrap says Warner Bros., the studio co-distributing Hobbit with MGM, is now leaning toward a release at the end of 2012. Why would Warner do this? Perhaps to spread the wealth. Remember, the studio pushed this summer's Harry Potter into 2009 following the box office blitzkrieg of The Dark Knight because the studio thought it was lighter this summer than it needed to be and 2008 was a massive year. In 2011, we should have Green Lantern, the last Potter, and the Hangover sequel, so even though this movie will be enormous, enormous can play pretty much anytime you draw it up. Certainly, if there are problems with the production getting off the ground - whether they're driven by the script or finances - you might as well be cautious with it and give yourself the extra time to get things right.

Comments

[W.]

Nope. 2011.