It’s Official: THE HOBBIT Is Going To Be A Trilogy!
It is official! THE HOBBIT is becoming its own trilogy!
After weeks of wondering whether or not Peter Jackson was ready to make his LORD OF THE RINGS prequel into another three part masterpiece, fans were greeted by the official announcement this morning when Jackson wrote on his Facebook page:
“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 [collaborators] Fran [Walsh], Phil [co-screenwriter Philippa Boyens] 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.'”
Jackson said that the main reason for him to add one more entry to THE HOBBIT series is not money or studio pressure, but the need to fulfill his complete vision of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic tale:
“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.”
THR is reporting that the third and final HOBBIT film will hit theaters Summer 2014. Jackson and company wrapped on the first two entries THE HOBBIT just a few weeks ago, and even screened about 12 minutes of unfinished film for fans at Comic Con on July 14th.
For me, it’s exciting to see Jackson decide to add a third movie, considering he even admitted at Comic Con that his films do tend to be a little long. This makes it possible for Jackson to shorten the films’ run time without worrying about the length of the movie getting criticized.
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY hits theaters December 14, 2012, while THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN will be released almost a year to the day later, on December 13,2012. Jackson has yet to announce the name of the third and final film.