Third Hobbit film re-titled as 'The Battle of the Five Armies'

 

 

Los Angeles: Director-producer Peter Jackson has rechristened the third and final 'Hobbit' film as 'The Battle of the Five Armies'.

 

The trilogy, based on JRR Tolkien books on the fictional Middle-earth and its creatures, chronicles the journey of Bilbo Baggins and is the prequel to Jackson's hugely successful franchise 'Lord of the Rings'.

 

Jackson said that the original title 'There and Back Again' did not go well with the story.

 

"'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'," Jackson said in a Facebook post to his fans.

 

"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."

 

The fantasy-loving director, however, told his fans that the original title may spring back somewhere.

 

"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," he noted.

 

Jackson said he has been "happily editing away in a dark cave in Wellington" before promising: "It'll be a fun year!"

 

'Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' releases on December 17.