Jackson to make 'The Hobbit' into a trilogy

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Peter Jackson is adding a third film to what was planned to be the two-part series "The Hobbit."
The director of the Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings" movies said Monday that after viewing a cut of the first film and part of the second that there was room for a third.

Jackson says in a statement that a lot of J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of Bilbo Baggins would remain untold if a third film wasn't made. The films are set in the fictional world of Middle-earth 60 years before "The Lord of the Rings."

"We recognized that 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,' gave rise to a simple question: do we tell more of the tale?" Jackson said in a statement. "And the answer from our perspective as filmmakers and fans was an unreserved 'yes.' "

"We know how much of the tale of Bilbo Baggins, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur would remain untold if we did not fully realize this complex and wonderful adventure," he said.

Warner Bros. and MGM will continue their partnership to make the trilogy.

The first film, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," hits theaters Dec. 14, while the second, "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" is set for release on Dec. 13, 2013.

The third film will come out in the summer of 2014.

All three movies are being shot in digital 3-D in New Zealand, which is home to Jackson's Weta Digital special effects house. Principal photography recently finished on the first two films.

Jackson, his wife Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro are listed as co-writers of the first two films.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...6cd5dd6952b853f

Trilogy confirmed~

to bridge the gap between Hobbit & LOTR?

IMO not much gap there actually...

I won't be surprised if PJ decided to film Silmarillion next

fuhhhh that one is tough yo

Wait...do they resume shooting for a 3rd movie, or just edit the already done footage into 3 movies?

The Hobbit Parts 2 and 3 Get New Titles, Release Dates



We already know that “The Hobbit Part 1″ will be subtitled “An Unexpected Journey”, and we thought we knew that “The Hobbit Part 2″ will be called “There and Back Again”. Well, not anymore.

Part 1 will still be called “An Unexpected Journey”, but now that Peter Jackson and company have added a third installment to their formerly two-parter adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien book, the second movie will now be called “The Hobbit Part 2: The Desolation of Smaug”, while “The Hobbit Part 3″ will take over “Part 2′s’” old subtitle, “There and Back Again”.

Part 2 will now be released on December 13, 2013, a full year after the first movie later this year, while your wait for Part 3 won’t be quite as long, wrapping things up on in the Summer on July 18, 2014.

So, to sum up:

“The Hobbit Part 1: An Unexpected Journey” – December 19, 2012
“The Hobbit Part 2: The Desolation of Smaug” – December 13, 2013
“The Hobbit Part 3: There and Back Again” – July 18, 2014