Peter Jackson Confirms The Hobbit Trilogy, Duology No More

The rumors of late have been construed: Peter Jackson is making not one, not two, but three The Hobbit movies. The once thought duology cease to exist anymore as Jackson confirmed on his Facebook page through a note that indeed the team is making another movie to tie-in the story in a trilogy.

It is already known that The Hobbit will begin with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on December 14, 2012, to be followed up by The Hobbit: There and Back Again on December 13 of the following year and we may expect the third yet-to-be-titled film in the trilogy to hit theaters Summer 2014.

Here is Peter Jackson's statement from 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

And if you haven't seen the trailer of the first movie in the trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, you can watch it here:

Surprisingly I am not sure of what my reaction should be. I kind of like the idea of a third Hobbit movie, but the phrase "money cow" always pops into my mind. Only one thing could make straight of this indecision and that is if I finally witness the first movie so that I could judge the artistic reasoning behind this move. Because in the end I don't really care if the team behind this movie is doing this for more money as long as the output is satisfying and really worth watching.