Los Angeles
“The Hobbit” Part II release pushed to Dec. 17
It’s going to take a little longer to get there and back again.
Warner Bros. confirmed Thursday that “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” the third film in Peter Jackson’s planned trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s landmark 1937 children’s novel, will be released Dec. 17, 2014.
The film originally had been set to open July 18, 2014.
The first of Peter Jackson’s planned three-part expedition, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” opened in December and went on to gross more than $300 million at the domestic box office. The film chronicles the initial leg of Bilbo Baggins’ (Martin Freeman) trek over the Misty Mountains to help Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his band of dwarf followers reclaim their lost treasure and their homeland.
For the films, Jackson utilized a groundbreaking 48-frames-per-second technology, a new projection technique designed to offer viewers a hyper-realistic “immersive” experience.
“Forty-eight frames per second is something you have to get used to. I’ve got absolute belief and faith in 48 frames,” Jackson told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year. “… It’s something that could have ramifications for the entire industry. ‘The Hobbit’ really is the test of that.”
The second installment of the trilogy, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” is scheduled to journey into theaters Dec. 13.
Los Angeles Times
