According to Voronwë_the_Faithful over at TheOneRing.net, there is tentative settlement reached in the Tolkien vs. New Line case. In short it appears that the Hobbit movies will be not be hindered. This is quite relieving and it means that given the movies are legally able to proceed, Warner Bros will give Del Toro and Peter Jackson the green light, so its probable official casting announcements will be unleashed soon.

“A tentative settlement has been reached in the case. The parties have filed a stipulation that explicitly states that “the parties have entered into a binding term sheet settling this matter, which term sheet is subject to certain necessary ratifications, which may take up to several weeks to obtain.

“In other words, a settlement has been reached, but it needs to be approved by certain unnamed individuals/entities. I’m sure it is a complicated settlement, and I’m relatively sure that it includes specifications to ensure that payments are made on the Hobbit films, so I assume that one of the ratifications needs to come from Warner.

“Generally speaking, these kinds of “ratifications” are a formality and the settlement would not have been entered into unless they were pretty much sure that it would be ratified. I would shocked if the settlement did not go through. In all likelihood, this case is no longer going to provide any obstacle to the Hobbit films.

The orginal article can be read at TORn.