While sitting with the press conference for Splice, producer Guillermo del Toro admitted that despite the recent hoo-haa about how The Hobbit been ended up slated for December 2012 and how things have been pretty running from there that a production is near, there is no official go-ahead and not even a start date set yet.
Speaking to Coming Soon, del Toro said:
It's not greenlit. That's categorical. We've been caught in a very tangled negotiation. There cannot be any start dates until the MGM situation gets resolved. They do hold a considerable portion of the rights.
Speaking of that MGM saga which have causes a lot of time been consumed, I suggest that MGM quickly put things to rest or else sells their portion out. Even with scripts in hand, Peter Jackson and del Toro also insisted that the production and casting have been very slow too. On another respond regarding the 3D prospect, he said it remains a possibility and current production budget has been drawn without 3D in mind.
We have designed all the creatures. We've designed the sets and the wardrobe. We have done animatics and planned battles sequences.... We are very, very prepared for when it is finally triggered.
Too bad, Guillermo. Nothing works just yet!!