The filmic Middle Earth will get a few more months to shake off the proverbial rust before The Hobbit begins shooting. According to a German news site, executive producer Peter Jackson has stated that production of the Lord of the Rings prequel will not start up until mid-2010, several months later than originally anticipated.

"We’re currently working on the second script which we hope to have completed by the end of this year or beginning of next," Jackson told Moviereporter.net, which was in turn translated by TheOneRing.net. "When the scripts are completed, we can begin with the exact calculation of the necessary budget. We hope to start filming in the middle of next year. However, we’ve received no green light from the studio yet."

About a week ago, it was reported that Jackson, Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh were about halfway through the second script.

The primary question on the minds of Tolkien and Jackson fans is whether this delay — to possibly July 2010 — will affect the prospective release dates of the two 'Hobbit' films, which were to arrive in theaters in December of 2011 and 2012. It has been noted that two-plus years passed between the start of filming for the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy in October 1999 and the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in December 2001.

However, this time only two films are being made, and it would be unfair to compare The Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro to Jackson (although both have been fairly prolific filmmakers). What do fans out there think? Is this just a mild hiccup or a serious cause for concern?