Peter Jackson Confirms That ‘The Hobbit’ Will be a Trilogy

It's been rumored over the last week that Peter Jackson wanted to make the two planned 'Hobbit' films into a trilogy by adding one more film. Today he confirmed that instead of only two more trips into Middle Earth, fans will get a third.

The first of 'The Hobbit' films is set for release on December 14th this year, the second on December 13th of 2013 and the third and final movie is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2014.

Making the announcement on Facebook today, Jackson said "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!"

"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."