Or no Hobbits at all...

[Child of the 7th Age]

The Golden Compass film was a disappointment, but I would still like them to go ahead with the sequels. Given the profits generated by Compass overseas, perhaps it would be profitable to make the second and third movies if Warner adopts a new scheme for handling foreign revenues from their movies, which now appears likely.

How great if this whole dispute would suddenly be settled fairly out of court now that new parties are involved. But I doubt the likelihood of that when so much money is involved.

[Sauron the White]

from VARIETY the show business newspaper reporting on the various implications of the NL folding and Shaye departure.

Variety’s article :

‘Warner Bros. gobbles up New Line’: “The Hobbit” has Guillermo Del Toro in talks to direct, and the picture will be unaffected by the ouster of Shaye and Lynne. Though the films won’t be scripted until a director is hired, and Jackson wraps “The Lovely Bones,” the expectation is that the films will be ready for release for Christmas 2011 and 2012. Harry Potter will have wound down at WB by then, and the corporation will surely welcome another fantasy franchise that has an eager global audience waiting. New Line will distribute domestically, while MGM has international rights.

The official HOBBIT movie site and discussion board has been carrying the official announcement since back in December stating that the two films would be released in 2010 and 2011. This article seems to postpone that by a full year although no months were given in either release cycle. You would have to suspect they would want to keep to the December releases since they had proven success with that.

Would this extra year be to a) work out a deal with the Estate before proceeding any further, or/ and b) get Jackson on board in a larger capacity even if it he will not direct - at least the first pic?

[ArathornJax]

Well, some more great info/speculation from The Frodo Franchise site. First comes this from Fred Schrurers blog found at http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs...ne-at-new-line

The article is called The Perfect Storm that sank Shaye and Lynne. He makes some excellent points I think.

Most fans will find this quote interesting:

"In the last category, Shaye and Lynne's long unwillingness to cede control to the company that linked with them in 1996 by acquiring the studio's then-parent Turner Broadcasting System, mixed with such untoward events as another perfect storm around the company's one huge success, Lord of the Rings (New Line was sued by director-producer Peter Jackson, original option holder Saul Zaentz, and more recently, the Tolkien estate).

That perfect record of being called chiselers on their biggest hit (the first two disputes were settled out of court) dovetails with Warner Bros.'s need to take the Hobbit project in hand--now that Jackson has agreed to produce it--and free it from potential legal entanglement by the Tolkien trust."

Kristin Thompson states on her blog "That reference to freeing the Hobbit project “from potential legal entanglement by the Tolkien trust” may hint that Warners or New Line will settle out of court in the not-too-distant future–which would be a logical move, given the value of the franchise." See the rest of her quote over at her blog.

Here's the link to The Frodo Franchise for Kristin's take:

http://www.kristinthompson.net/blog/

I sure like the sound that Warner Bros. "needs to take the Hobbit project in hand -- now that Jackson has agreed to produce it -- and FREE IT from the potential legal entanglement by the Tolkien trust."

Sure sounds like a settlement is coming!