The Hobbit to be delayed until 2012?

Around the end of November and early December, there were reports about THE HOBBIT’s release being delayed from 2011 to 2012. Shortly thereafter, however, Peter Jackson denied the reports saying that shooting was still scheduled to begin around April/May of this year with December 2011 still the targeted release. Has that changed, though?

In a Variety article today, about the current state of New Line Cinema, there’s a brief paragraph near the bottom of the page, casually mentioning the following from Warner Bros. head honcho Alan Horn:

“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.”

MGM (which is tied along with New Line to the financing rights of the film) is currently in a restructuring phase due to its recent sell-off that could be causing the delays. But as recently as Monday, Peter Jackson himself told Ain’t It Cool to expect casting news in a month or two, indicating that at least the April/May production start date is still on schedule.

I would expect confirmations or denials of the above to come soon, so stayed tuned.