Now here's some good news to brighten up a miserable Monday morning. After rumours surfaced last week that scared the bejeezus out of us, that nice Mr Jackson has stepped in to assure everybody that The Hobbit won't be opening late after all.
Despite reports claiming that the script was still a work in progress and filming would be starting in the latter half of 2010, Jackson told Collider at the premiere of The Lovely Bones in Los Angeles over the weekend that, "Nothing has changed as far as I am concerned."
"Somebody wrote something on the internet and a lot of nonsense happened. We were due to deliver the scripts and be shooting sometime around April and now, I think I said in an interview, we were shooting in June. And somehow people are now saying the film is delayed."
"As far as I am aware, they are not delayed at all. I am not even sure when we are going to start shooting… We're delivering the scripts just after Christmas. They'll be finished and we'll be shooting as soon as we possibly can. But you need a certain amount of time to finish the pre-production."
Jackson also went on to confirm that The Hobbit should have a December 2011 release date. While it still seems a long time away, it's a damn sight closer than the middle of 2012... and we're feeling rather chipper about that.
Are you feeling chipper too? Or have you had your fill of Middle-earth and wish Jackson would get on with something else? Sound off below...
