Sadly, recent reports of The  Hobbit being green-lit for pre-production were not true after all. Guillermo del Toro who was giving a press conference for Splice, which he executive produced, delivered the bad news:

“It’s not greenlit,” said del Toro, “That’s categorical… We’ve been caught in a very tangled negotiation… There cannot be any start dates until the MGM situation gets resolved. They do hold a considerable portion of the rights.” (ComingSoon)

MGM studios is in great financial debt and have been in negotiations for other parties to purchase the studio and its properties. There is still no buyer as yet and the situation has halted any progress on the Hobbit films. Del Toro suggested that the likely scenario would be for MGM to share the rights to the films or sell them outright to another studio.

Although this means that The Hobbit might not start filming until next year, Del Toro remains optimistic that they will be made and made well:

“We have designed all the creatures,” he said, “We’ve designed the sets and the wardrobe. We have done animatics and planned battles sequences…. We are very, very prepared for when it is finally triggered.”

He also added that while 3D remains a possibility, is has only been discussed “literally once” and has not been included as a factor in the current production budget.

For fans the good news is that MGM won’t be able to delay much further in finding a potential buyer to settle their debts and when they do news of The Hobbit won’t be far behind.

When do you think The Hobbit will start filming?