THE HOBBIT delayed till 2012

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Until little men with webbed feet are actually spotted filming The Hobbit, don't believe any release date that is attached to it. Variety have the scoop...

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 late 2011 date that has been in place for years now for the first part of what will be two movies. It would seem the restructuring of MGM during the studio's auction is the main reason for the delay, and possibly the wide-net casting search, including that of lead Bilbo Baggins, as Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro are determined to meet as many candidates as they can.