No Hobbit until late 2012, says president of Warner Bros.

Well this is no fun. The first of the two Hobbit films may not hit theaters until late in 2012, according to Alan Horn, president and chief operating officer of Warner Bros. This puts the release a full year behind what Jackson and others have openly said: late 2011.

In an interview with href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118014180.html?categoryid=2520&cs=1">Variety, Horn and Toby Emmerich, president of New Line, discussed candidly the importance of The Hobbit and the restructuring they’ve had to do at New Line Cinema.

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.

“It’s a big bet for us. But it’s one we think will pay off given the success of ‘Lord of the Rings,’” says Emmerich. “This is one of the few movies it feels like people are waiting for.”

Hopefully this delay is not due to MGM/UA’s troubles. MGM, bought the rights to The Hobbit back in 1969 and shares the financing rights with New Line. Unfortunately, MGM is auctioning off almost all of its financial assets. The rights to The Hobbit could potentially be sold and who knows what that would do to production.

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New Line hasn’t had it much better. After a series of box office failures since the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy–including Domino, Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny, and The Last Mimzy–Time-Warner had to step in and reshuffle management and priorities at the struggling studio. New Line no longer operates independently and publishes only six or so films a year, about half of its previous slate. Emmerich discusses the importance of The Hobbit to New Line.

“It’s similar, though this is more expensive and much more of a known entity,” says Emmerich of the “LOTR” ramp-up vs. the advance work being done on “The Hobbit.” /> … /> “It’s a big bet for us. But it’s one we think will pay off given the success of ‘Lord of the Rings,’” says Emmerich. “This is one of the few movies it feels like people are waiting for.”

As of late, the only other news we’ve heard is that Guillermo del Toro, director, and company have begun href="http://filmonic.com/casting-call-hobbit-8299">casting several major roles in the film. Peter Jackson also told the Hollywood Reporter that the films were still on schedule to start filming in mid 2010. Could this be a slip of the tongue or has The Hobbit really been pushed back?  I suppose a delay might mean a better film, but who wants to wait.

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