You're probably right. The only way they could pander more would be to have Terminators fighting Aliens using Lightsabers on the Enterprise, which is on its way to Hogwarts to rescue the Hobbits from the attacking Transformers.

Human psychology is such that over time we remember the good stuff more than the bad stuff.

Hence all the excitement over Episode 7, even when there's no objective rational reason that it'll be any good (Hollywood's poor track record of resurrecting long dead franchises, JJ's last movie: Into Darkness, expectations dialled way too high, endless chasing and punching action scenes, over-CG everything, the bland PG-13 tone that pervades every tentpole these days).

So once the bitter taste of the Hobbit fades with time, the appetite for more Middle Earth will build up again, either as a prequel trilogy, spin-off movies, original-idea sequels, or a Game of Thrones-esque TV series.