Peter Jackson has announced today that The Hobbit: There and Back Again (which is set to be released on December 17th, later this year) has been given a new title.
There had been rumours about this, but the director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has made it official.
The new name? The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
There are some other interesting details below in the statement released via his official Facebook page, including the fact that an extended version of the last Hobbit movie is on the way and that the “There and Back Again” title will more than likely be used when the trilogy is collected in a box set.
Check out Jackson’s comments below and then be sure to let us know how you feel about this change in the comment section below!
Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo’s own, with hidden paths revealing their secrets to us as we’ve gone along. “There and Back Again” felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo’s arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived “there” in the “Desolation of Smaug”. When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.
And so: “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” it is.
As Professor Tolkien intended, “There and Back Again” encompasses Bilbo’s entire adventure, so don’t be surprised if you see it used on a future box-set of all three movies.
Before then however, we have a film to finish, and much to share with you. It’s been a nice quiet time for us—Jabez and I happily editing away in a dark cave in Wellington—but those halcyon days are quickly coming to an end. It will soon be time to step into the light. Expect to see and hear much about The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in the coming months.
And there’s also The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Cut, which we’re in the process of finishing, with over 25 mins of new scenes, all scored with original music composed by Howard Shore.
It’ll be a fun year!
