The Hobbit To Start Shooting In Summer 2010?

One of the most eagerly anticipated and discussed upcoming movies is Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson’s upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit. Little snippets of sometimes true and sometimes false information keep rolling out almost like clockwork, with the last one reported on being just this past weekend when producer Peter Jackson talked about the fact that he’s been scouting shooting locations for The Hobbit, and confirmed the film would NOT be coming to us in three-dimensions (thanks God, I say).

However, today we get some more information on The Hobbit, following and related to the news that the script for at least the first part is done and handed into the studio who seem to be happy with it (remember, the film is being split into two parts and released a year apart from one another). A quote from TheOneRing.net, which originated over at a German site called MovieReporter.net, says that during an interview for Jackson’s drama, The Lovely Bones, the acclaimed filmmaker revealed that the film will probably start shooting next Summer and not the Spring (March) date that was previously rumored.

Here’s the quote (translated from German):

“We’re currently working on the second script which we hope to have completed by the end of this year or beginning of next. When the scripts are completed, we can begin with the exact calculation of the necessary budget. We hope to start filming in the middle of next year. However, we’ve received no green light from the studio yet.”

No greenlight from the studio? I think we’ll hear word that has changed since Jackson is pretty confident the studio likes it…

We already learned recently that the first script was done, and that the second one was well on its way to getting to that point, too. I think that puts it on course for the original rumored start date of Spring 2010 and not the later Summer date that Jackson has now thrown into the ring. Word is the month is July, which puts it a whole 7 months away (at the very least) from today – perhaps they need a heck of a lot of time for pre-production, to make sure they have everything right (there’s still the casting of the titular character to take care of – which might already be known according to Sir Ian McKellen) before they start the cameras rolling.

We already saw photos from one of the sets of The Hobbit, which we reported on months ago. It showed Hobbiton being built, so they’re well prepared for principal photography. Like with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, they’re allowing natural growth of the lush greens and natural setting of the Shire which does definitely show when watching scenes in these beautiful locations.

But what does this mean for the reported release date for Part 1 of December 2011? There’s been rumored word for a while now that del Toro and Jackson want to shoot for more than a straight year for the entire project – if they start shooting in July 2010, and shoot for more than 360 days, they’ll still be shooting scenes for part 2 awfully close for their currently planned release date of part 1.

Nonetheless, I don’t think we need to be too alarmed about the “delay” in the shooting schedule – all the stuff like that about The Hobbit has been vague so far. It’s not like there was a set in stone start date and they’re now delaying it because of production problems. But still, coming from Jackson himself (who’s producing the mammoth project) it’s definitely worth taking note of.

What do you think of The Hobbit apparently set to start filming next summer instead of next spring? Is it cause of any concern on our, the audience’s part? When do you think we’ll hear word of the all-important Bilbo Baggins casting?

As far as we know, The Hobbit is set to start shooting summer 2010. Part 1 is set to hit theaters in December, 2011 with Part 2 following a year later in December, 2012.

Sources: TheOneRing.net, MovieReporter.net and /Film