Exciting news for movie lovers in Fresno today as Peter Jackson has confirmed on his Facebook page that The Hobbit, the film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic novel that serves as the prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will now become a trilogy of films in its own right.
The idea of a Hobbit trilogy first came up in rumor form last week, but it is only today, as reported by such sources as AceShowbiz.com, SuperheroHype.com and The Huffington Post that Jackson has confirmed it in the following statement:
It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’
We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.
So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.
It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, “a tale that grew in the telling.”
This announcement is expected to inspired New Line to rethink their advertising campaign for the films as well as expand production to accommodate whatever further footage will be required for this third chapter of the story. It is expected by some that the third film will pull more sources from outside of the novel itself and draw from Tolkien’s appendices to The Return of the King. The third film is expected to serve as a bridging story between the events of The Hobbit and those of The Lord of the Rings.
The first film in the trilogy, The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey, is slated to arrive in theaters on December 14 of this year, while the second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is scheduled for a December 13, 1013 release. The third film, for which no title had yet been announced, is expected to be released in the summer of 2014.
UPDATE: On August 31, 2012, as reported by such sources as SuperHeroHype.Com, Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures have jointly announced that the third film in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy will be released worldwide on July 18, 2014. The original title of the second film in the trilogy, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will now be used as the title for the third film, while the second film will be re-titled The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which is still slated to open December 13, 2013. The first film, The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey, will still be released on December 14, 2012.