MANILA, Philippines - The makers of the final film of the "The Hobbit" trilogy on Friday announced the title of the last installation of the epic-adventure series.
Warner Bros Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and New Line Cinema jointly announced the last film's title: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies."
It will be released worldwide on December 17.
“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," said Director Peter Jackson.
"‘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 ‘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,†Jackson said explaining how they arrived at a decision of the last film's title.
“The Hobbit†Trilogy tells a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,†which Jackson brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.â€
Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield.
The international ensemble cast is led by Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, and Orlando Bloom. The film also stars, in alphabetical order, John Bell, Manu Bennett, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Billy Connolly, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Lawrence Makoare, Sylvester McCoy, Graham McTavish, Dean O’Gorman, Mikael Persbrandt, Aidan Turner
The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies†is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.