First Hobbit Movie Looks To Be Delayed Until The End Of 2012

In a fresh Variety story about the rebooted New Line, there's one heck of a Hobbit bombshell. Let's just go straight to it:

[Warners top dog 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.

That's a full year behind the previously publicised schedule. Best guess is that the slow down has been caused by the ongoing MGM sell-off and restructuring. It was starting to look rather unlikely that Guillermo Del Toro could really have wrapped a film up by the end of next year anyway.

So, we'll have to wait longer, but it doesn't look like anything will be unduly rushed. I can live with that. My hair might go grey, but I won't pull it out.