Good news, Lord of the Rings fans, director Peter Jackson himself made it official today that his two Hobbit films will now become three. As I understand it, he filmed a whole lot of leftover footage, and is looking at various notes and appendices that JRR Tolkien wrote in the original works; so he’s got more than enough material to work with to stretch this out into a trilogy!

An unexpected journey

I’ve never read The Hobbit, so I couldn’t tell you how well I think this might work out. But I do hold The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy as possibly the greatest film masterpiece of all time. They were such amazing movies. And if Peter Jackson feels he has enough material to make three new movies instead of just two, I say more power to him!

This trilogy rumor has been bouncing around since Comic-Con, but Jackson made it official today with a post 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 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, from the man himself.

I have all the faith in the world that this guy knows what he’s doing with these films.

As of right now, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is set to be released on Dec. 14, 2012, followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again on Dec. 13, 2013. I imagine these films and dates might be subject to change…plus they’ll need a new title for the third film!