The Hobbit (film series)

The Hobbit is a series of three epic fantasy-adventure films directed, co-written and produced by Peter Jackson and based on J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937). The films are, by subtitle, An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again, due for theatrical release in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The series acts as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series and will star Ian McKellen, reprising his role as Gandalf, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug. Several other actors will reprise their roles from The Lord of the Rings, including Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, and Orlando Bloom. Also returning for the production are a significant part of the production crew: among others, co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, illustrators John Howe and Alan Lee, art director Dan Hennah, and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. As with the original trilogy, props will generally be crafted by Weta Workshop and visual effects managed by Weta Digital. Additionally, composer Howard Shore, who wrote the score for The Lord of the Rings, has confirmed his involvement in the first two parts of the film project. The most significant new involvement in the trilogy is the participation of Guillermo del Toro, originally chosen to direct the films, as co-writer.

It would be another fantasy movie after the "Lord of the rings". It took more than a decade, two directors and a lawsuit before "The Hobbit" made it to the big screen. Hollywood executives are crossing their fingers that the culmination of that journey will help smash movie box office records this year.

The film, which opens on December 14, is expected to contribute to the first annual box office increase in North America in three years, a sign that big movie studios have made more films enticing enough to get people into theaters and away from their TVs, games and the Internet.

"The Hobbit" follows this year's other big box office successes "The Avengers," which became the industry's third-largest film with $623 million in U.S. sales, and "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Hunger Games" which both passed $400 million.

Hollywood analysts predict the two months of the year that include "The Hobbit" and the finale of the "Twilight" vampire series may lift U.S. and Canadian ticket sales above the $10.6 billion record set in 2009.