Peter Jackson Confirms ‘The Hobbit’ Will Be Three Films

Hobbit Trilogy Peter JacksonBREAKING: Peter Jackson has just confirmed he will split The Hobbit into three films, the third of which will be released sometime in summer 2014. Jackson dropped hints about this at Comic-Con, explaining he had a wealth of storytelling that came from 125 pages of appendices that JRR Tolkien included in a later publication of The Return Of The King, the final installment of The Lord Of The Rings. I wrote a piece skeptical of milking three movies out of a single book, and 125 pages of notes, and I hope that Jackson delivers the goods. I don’t believe there have been any renegotiation with talent that should be paid an extra check for another film, even if they didn’t know they were making three. Those details are still being worked out.

Related: Comic-Con Q&A: Peter Jackson On His Return To Middle Earth With ‘The Hobbit’ And How 48 Frames Can Save Moviegoing

Comments (181)

  • if it means we get to se Benedict Cumberbatch on screen in the flesh as Sauron then I’m all for it.

    Comment by jess — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:07am PDT  Reply to this post
    • It makes no sense to fixate on the number of pages. They’re dense with history, with an epic scope and scores of characters. There’s more than enough material, but I would prefer to see them do something like Children of Hurin rather than a 3rd Hobbit.

      Comment by Gord — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 8:46pm PDT  Reply to this post
  • Ye of little faith. I believe if Pete Jackson didn’t feel he could do the third film justice he would make sure that it was not put into production. At his core Pete Jackson is a fan before he is a director and I think he’s making sure that as much of Tolkien s world is going to be shared as possible. I too was skeptical when the rumor first surfaced, but now that it’s official I am all on board and have zero doubts that myself and every other fan of the franchise will not be let down. Shame on you for immediately accusing him of being money hungry without even seeing the first film. Truly, shame on you!

    Comment by Amanda Thorp — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:11am PDT  Reply to this post
  • Summer 2014? Surely they meant winter? Firstly, this isn’t a summer film. And secondly, summer 2014 is already ridiculously crowded.

    Comment by Brian — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:12am PDT  Reply to this post
  • There are a lot of people who don’t know what they are talking about. The length of a book does not even begin to determine how long a film should be. One Martin novel is being turned into 10 hours of film for HBO. And they could probably still add more. The Lord of the Rings could have been 6 movies if they had included everything.

    Not including Peter Jackson’s facebook message about why this is necessary does this an injustice, because people think this is coming from the studio. Jackson has earned my trust to make three movies that include wonderful exposition and fleshing out of themes and characters. Only is some alternate universe are people complaining about this.

    Comment by JohnDoe — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:15am PDT  Reply to this post
    • And how many people would be excited to watch “The Game of Thrones” (only the first novel) filmed as a five part movie franchise? With all the parts releasing a few months apart?

      Comment by jawsnnn — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 11:16pm PDT  Reply to this post
  • Just imagine they had made The Rings trilogy in this age. Then it wouldn’t be a trilogy. We’d get 9 films, spanning a decade just like Harry Potter. I’m quite sure the studio is wondering why they didn’t think of that.

    Comment by Tim — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:21am PDT  Reply to this post
  • I think that two movies for The Hobbit its streching something that could’ve been done in one single very strong three hour movie. Now they are talking about a third one! No way!

    It’s better to make a movie series from book The Silmarillion. Now that is a book with potential for three or even four movies.

    Comment by Wa — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:23am PDT  Reply to this post
  • this inspired producers of both Showgirls and Gigli to remake both into 3 part films. I CANNOT WAIT! Finally!

    Comment by David — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:23am PDT  Reply to this post
  • Oblivious fools. If you had any sense of appreciation for quality literature, you would know that the only way to justify a book of this stature, would be to make at least two films – and three is even better. It would simply be impossible to include all the angles, emotions, the acts and all other elements of the story, in only one film. The result would be horrible. Quite the contrary, making one simple, “outtake” of this story, into one film which is supposed to include all the elements – would be exactly what you are saying about the “2/3 movie-solution”, namely a moneygrabbing easy-way-out – a shortcut.
    Typical Hollywood way of thinking. A lot of people over there simply dont appreciate good writing. Just like you managed to demolish Stieg Larsson’s masterpiece, “Menn som hater kvinner” (“The girl with the dragon tattoo”), with your Hollywood-version of it. This is a 500-600-page book, turned into a 2,5 hour movie. The story was rushed; the characters didn’t have time to develop; and as a result of this, the quality suffered greatly. It was a disgrace.

    Good thing Peter Jackson and the studio had the balls to drag this into 3 movies.
    Annoyed regards
    Ph.D stud in English Literature

    Comment by Christoffer Strømgaard — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:24am PDT  Reply to this post
  • Once again I see nothing but sad, miserable, angry, and greedy posters here on deadline… sooo worried about other people’s money.

    Comment by Brian — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:25am PDT  Reply to this post
  • The deep skepticism of the motives for turning Tolkien’s kid’s adventure story into three movies is not out of line. This might just be grubbing for more money. But, for myself, I’ll wait to see if PJ pulls it off. That’s when I’ll make my judgement.

    Comment by D. R. Martin — Monday July 30, 2012 @ 10:26am PDT  Reply to this post

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