The Hobbit Part 2 Gets A New Name While Part 3 Gets A Release Date

We’re getting some breaking news tonight regarding Peter Jackson’s upcoming adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. We already knew that he recently changed his plans from making just two films to making a trilogy, but now, thanks to Comic Book Movie, we’ve learned that a little title shuffling and renaming has occurred.

Part two of the trilogy was original to be called The Hobbit: There and Back Again, but now this title has been shifted to part three, with part two being renamed The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

On top of this news, a release date has finally been set for part three. It has officially been scheduled for July 18, 2014, confirming the reports of a summer release.

So here’s what things officially look like now:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Opens December 14, 2012.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Opens December 13, 2013.

The Hobbit: There and Back Again – Opens July 18, 2014.

I’m really anxious to see how this ends up turning out, especially with trying to get three movies out of a little book and a bit of material from the appendices. As a huge fan of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy though, I have complete faith in him to deliver something that will once again be a landmark in cinematic history.

As mentioned above, the epic adventure begins on December 14th, 2012. Are you ready to return to Middle Earth?