Third HOBBIT Film Gets New Subtitle – THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES

If you’re heading to theaters this coming December expecting to see The Hobbit: There And Back Again, you may want to adjust your expectations slightly. The film is getting a name change and will now be called The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies.

The name comes from one of the big set pieces that will be featured in the third film and was announced by Peter Jackson on Facebook earlier today –

Inside Information…

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. “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”.

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.

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.

Before then however, we have a film to finish, and much to share with you. It’s been a nice quiet time for us—Jabez and I happily editing away in a dark cave in Wellington—but those halcyon days are quickly coming to an end. It will soon be time to step into the light. Expect to see and hear much about The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in the coming months.

And there’s also The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Cut, which we’re in the process of finishing, with over 25 mins of new scenes, all scored with original music composed by Howard Shore.

It’ll be a fun year!

Honestly, I am a bit surprised by the change. There was a rumor that this might be in the work a week or two back, but I honestly discounted it as Jackson and the studio had spent years at this point working on the film trilogy and the There And Back Again subtitle has been public knowledge for just a few weeks short of three years now. That is an awful long time to have name awareness building for a project only to chuck it all a few months before its release. Granted, it’s not a complete title change so people shouldn’t be caught too off-guard. That, and I am sure that the studio’s promotional department will be inundating with enough advertising to drive the change home.

Still, if there is any advertising material out there with the There And Back Again logo, you might want to gran on to it. Remember how much posters with Star Wars: Revenge Of The Jedi on them go for?