Rumor Buster: The Hobbit still on track for 2012 release

Yesterday, IMAX issued a press release announcing a 20-film partnership with Warner Bros. At the end of the release it mentioned that the 2013 release of THE HOBBIT would be included in the partnership. This threw LORD OF THE RINGS fanboys into a tizzy as it was previously believed that THE HOBBIT would be hitting theaters in 2012. Well fear not – Guillermo del Toro’s first part of his two-part HOBBIT saga will hit theaters in December 2012.

So where was the disconnect? It looks like it was simply a mistake on the part of IMAX as Warner Bros. quickly realized the error (IMAX has since issued a corrected release).

So what’s the status of THE HOBBIT? The script for the second part of the film was just submitted last week and all parties involved are working on the financials to come up with a budget. Once they get a budget they’re happy with, they’ll get an official greenlight (yes, the film still hasn’t been officially greenlit) and Peter Jackson said recently that he hopes filming would begin in October or November.

No so coincidentally, Jackson also mentioned that if all goes well with the budget and the greenlight that he hopes to have casting announcements in mid-summer….just in time for Comic-Con.