I haven't written about '
The Hobbit' in a little while, mainly because the situation is ever-evolving and I always feel out of date writing about it. Though despite talk of union trouble potentially leading to an Eastern Europe shoot, a fire at Wellington Studio's where the FX production was housed, the always present financial woes, etc. - there's legit sounding reports from
The L.A. Times and
NY Times that a greenlight is surprisingly forthcoming. And that is a major announcement I simply can't ignore. New Line, Warner Bros. and the bankrupt MGM are seemingly days away from completing the impossible - signing an agreement on terms so 'The Hobbit' can be made. That includes striking a deal with the always problematic Tolkien estate who are reportedly now no longer an obstacle in these films getting made. We even now have a definite release date for Part I (
Dec. 12th, 2012) and word seemingly that despite
Peter Jackson telling us a year ago, and reiterating it at Comic Con (met with grand cheers) that 'The Hobbit' won't be shot in 3D, it actually, turns out, it will be. So where's the money coming from for 'The Hobbit' anyway? Well, Warner Bros and New Line are only willing to risk up-fronting half ($250 million) but because MGM have less money than a homeless man in Covent Garden, a third-party studio is still required, as far as we know. 20th Century Fox have a deal to distribute a handful of MGM movies so they might be a possibility, but imagining them working with WB after all the '
Watchmen' trouble they had with each other, just seems so unlikely right now. Whoemever the studio is, it's the job of Spyglass Entertainment chiefs and probable future managers of MGM,
Gary Barber and
Roger Birnbaum, to find the money from somewhere. Obsessed With Film can chuck in $10 dollars, if that helps. If all goes well in the coming weeks, Peter Jackson will direct the back-to-back shot two-parter in January that will cost $500 million to make, give or take. Jackson is attempting to strike a deal with
Martin Freeman to play Bilbo Baggins, and Sylvester McCoy is also heavily rumored to be wanted for a key-role.
As we've said, 'The Hobbit: Part 1" is due Dec. 12th 2012, with 'The Hobbit: Part II' coming a year later. If all goes to plan, which it rarely does with this movie.