After the monumental success of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, one of the biggest risks in cinema history and one that paid off in a very big way, New Line Cinema squandered their success by releasing a series of disasters, culminating in the butchered version of “The Golden Compass,” which, while a hit internationally, flopped domestically and leading to the studio being folded into sister company Warner Bros. Now, as a Variety story on the studio says, the studio is going great guns again, with 15 of their last 17 films turning a profit (only the dreadful “Semi-Pro” and “Inkheart” flopped, and even the latter turned out to be a surprise hit on DVD).
There’s a few tidbits of information in the article (a semi-sequel to the upcoming “Valentine’s Day,” entitled “New Year’s Eve,” appears to be in development, set for a 2011 release, along with a sequel to “Journey to the Center of the Earth”), but by far the biggest news comes in a discussion over the studio’s return to the tentpole game, with the “Lord of the Rings” prequel “The Hobbit.”
The first of Guillermo Del Toro’s pair of films based on JRR Tolkien’s book, which are apparently set to start filming in June, has long been set for release in Christmas 2011, but Warner Bros head honcho Alan Horn tells the trade “that the most probable scenario would be a release in the fourth quarter of 2012.” This makes sense (the shoot is set to be 14 months, allegedly, which wouldn’t leave much post-production time to make a Christmas 2011 release), but it’s the first time anyone in a position of power has said as much.
There’s also the possibility that the production’s being held up because of the uncertainty over the future of MGM, who own the rights to the original book, and who are currently being sold. Casting and pre-production work does seem to be underway, though, and it’s unlikely that whoever ends up owning MGM would want to hold up one of the few guaranteed blockbusters in the company’s slate. Although, having said that, if we’re to believe Roland Emmerich, there may not be many people around to see it in theaters.