Writes Mike Fleming, "I can confirm a NYT report that they're locked into a 3D two-picture shoot that will cost around $500 million. Unless a third party steps in, Warner Bros most likely funds production because MGM can't. The movement on The Hobbit doesn't help James Bond, which is post-bankruptcy business. If Spyglass partners Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber close the deal and turn MGM into a stripped down production entity, they will have every studio chasing 007. While Warner Bros, Fox and especially Sony Pictures Entertainment will be players, I hear Paramount stands a good chance. Birnbaum and Barber have a great relationship there as co-financiers of Star Trek, and Paramount can certainly use the films as its distribution deal with Marvel winds to a conclusion."
Fleming also raises the possibility that Warners could add 3D to the Lord of the Rings trilogy and get them back into theatres as well.
So, 2012 is certainly shaping up to be an interesting year with films such as Batman 3, Star Trek 2, The Avengers, Superman: Man of Steel, Underworld 4 and The Hobbit, Part 1 all reaching theatres.
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