No, I haven't heard anything apart from the rumour, Child of the 7th Age. But if it's true, I have to say New Line had it coming. Before LOTR, they were a second-rate studio helming endless horror flick rehashes(Friday the Thirteenth, Elm Street series etc.) and most of the work they've done after LOTR is of the same caliber. With LOTR's popularity they had the chance to make it into the 'Big Studio' league and blew it with crap like Freddy vs. Jason and the Golden Compass.
And I doubt this will affect the production of The Hobbit. It's too much of a cash cow for Warner Bros. And Peter's made himself some powerful friends(Harry Sloan, anyone?), so he won't have to worry about getting sh*tcanned, either.