Earlier today a rumor surfaced regarding two of Warner Bros. top upcoming projects: Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit and Zack Snyder's reboot of the Superman franchise, Man of Steel. The original story, which comes from a site called Think McFly Think, said that Jackson doesn't want to rush the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of two Lord of the Rings prequels, which is currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 14, 2012. To fix this, Man of Steel, which is currently set to come out on June 14, 2013, would be pushed up to take The Hobbit's place and Jackson's movie would move to December 2013. I have received word from the studio that this rumor is inaccurate.
After learning of the story, I reached out to Warner Bros. for comment and they responded that the claims about Man of Steel and The Hobbit moving are absolutely false. Dan Fellman, the President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures, says, "Contrary to inaccurate reports - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is being released on December 14, 2012." Both movies are currently in production.
So let's all celebrate, shall we? Considering The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King came out all the way back in 2003, we've been without a trip to the shire for far too long and it's nice to know that things are still on track. It's unfortunate that we still have to wait a year and a half before Superman finally makes his way back to the silver screen, but we can, at the very least, have confidence that the project isn't being rushed.
