Hobbit fans rejoice! Director Peter Jackson has officially announced that The Hobbit will go from a two part film to a trilogy, with the third film coming in 2014. Jackson took to Facebook to announce the news, stating that there was enough story left to make up a third film and that it will be based on some additional material such as the “appendices of The Lord of the Rings.”
Check out his full statement below.
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.”
Cheers,
Peter J
So, there you have it. Peter Jackson will again be giving us an epic Middle Earth trilogy. The director didn’t mention how much more production would be needed but seeing as the film is aiming to release in 2014, it’s a safe bet that they still have a lot more footage to shoot.
Now, while I think it’s very likely that the studio had a big hand in pushing this decision (you know how greedy those studios get), I have no problem getting behind this idea. Yes, it may be a bit of a money grab but we all know what Jackson did last time he gave us a Middle Earth trilogy, right?
Considering he’s working with mostly the same cast and crew, I wouldn’t expect anything less than what we saw with his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Seeing as that’s by far, one of the greatest film trilogies of all time, the fact that The Hobbit is going from two films to three shouldn’t worry you in the slightest.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th and The Hobbit: There and Back Again will hit theaters a year later on December 13th, 2013. As for the third film, all we know right now is Summer 2014, no specific release date has been given.