Today it was announced via the official Facebook page of Peter Jackson, director of the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy and the soon to be released prequel, The Hobbit, that the Hobbit was to become a three part movie instead of a two-parter.

Please read below:

“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”

Now, I’m not one to condemn movies being split into parts. After all, I was very skeptic of the Deathly Hallows being split and now I’m super glad they did. They were able to capture so much of the book by splitting it in two and frankly, Deathly Hallows Part 2 is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. You don’t even want to see how I get while watching it…

Anyway, my point is that I can see the point of it…for the most part. I’m a little confused on splitting up Breaking Dawn, which I have read. Doesn’t seem like a good idea to me; there just isn’t much of a climax or big ending to necessitate a two part movie. Also, a little confused on a Mockingjay split? I guess the book is kind of long but there are definitely parts they can cut out to keep it from being a two-part. To me, it just seems to be a trend that we’re pushing to split movies and to perhaps make a little more money in the box office.

However, when I found out The Hobbit was to be a two-part movie, I understood. I didn’t exactly wave away the possibility at the filmmakers wanting to make a little extra cash but I could see the legitimacy of making two movies. That book is HUGE and there’s so much that goes on! I was completely fine with that.

Now with the announcement that there is going to be three? I’m a little wary now. Three movies for one book just seems to be a bit extreme and that first movie is going to have to be pretty awesome for me to really want to see those last two. The first installment is set to release in early December of this year, the second part to be released in early December of 2013 and the now announced third part to be released in the summer of 2014. This literally will be a year and a half’s experience and I’m just not sure what the true motivation is here.

What does everyone else think?

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