Peter Jackson and the cast and crew of The Hobbit officially completed principal photography over three weeks ago, just in time to bring footage to showcase at Comic-Con 2012. While seeing 12 minutes of mostly-finished scenery of middle-earth was certainly a highlight of the Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures panel presentation, it was the hints that a brand new movie could be on its way for the franchise: a third part to The Hobbit.
After the con, Peter Jackson, producer Fran Walsh and writer Philippa Boyens reportedly met up to seriously discuss the potential of doing a third film, and as confirmed by Jackson himself this morning, they are going ahead with it. But what will the film be called?
As we know, the previous two-part plan for The Hobbit had each film given a subtitle. The first part, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, coming this December, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again a year later. With the third installment basing itself mostly on 125 pages of appendices that came published with J. R. R. Tolkien’s Return of the King and – if rumors are true – an unpublished (more detailed) version of The Hobbit, we can get an idea of what content may appear in the third film. As for a fitting title, some timely domain registrations by MarkMonitor (who Warner Bros. is a client of) this week may reveal what The Hobbit 3 will be titled.
http://whois.domaintools.com/desolationofsmaug.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/riddlesindark.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/thedesolationofsmaug.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/thehobbitdesolationofsmaug.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/thehobbitriddlesindark.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/thehobbitthedesolationofsmaug.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/thehobbittheriddlesinthedark.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/theriddlesinthedark.com
From the registry list, we’re looking at two likely options: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug or The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark. The latter refers to one of the chapter names from The Hobbit novel whereas the former (Desolation of Smaug) refers to a key piece of land featured in the book. It is where the The Battle of the Five Armies – likely the biggest action set piece to be featured in The Hobbit trilogy – takes place and it is the barren area of land Smaug the dragon (fan-made art below) reigned over.
For my money, getting the name “Smaug” in the title would be the wiser move since the visuals behind the dragon, him laying waste to the town of Dale and the following battles on these lands will be a big focus of the films. There’s also the obvious marketing and merchandising that goes with spotlighting the dragon of the trilogy.
Loading ...Check out Peter Jackson’s statement confirming The Hobbit 3 for more on his plans and motivations.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey releases December 14, 2012. The Hobbit: There and Back Again opens a year later on December 13, 2013. The Hobbit 3 releases summer 2014.
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Source: Fusible
Smaug art by R-Valle & moonxels
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I like “Riddles in the Dark” more, that way the story would focus more on Bilbo and Gollum instead of Smaug.
gollum sucks dude.
Ha.
Hahaha.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Ha.
The Hobbit III !
The Hobbit III !
Don’t you mean “The Hobbit 3D”
I can’t wait to see Smaug on the big screen! That is going to be so cool!
Hobbit 3: Desperate Cash Grab because Batman and Potter are over
At least it’s not as bad as the Twilight Reboot, Jackson seems like he’s passionate in exploring the story, and I’d trust him with it…. more than George Lucas at least.
It’s obviously gonna be called There and Back Again, and the 2nd will be re-titled, considered the 2nd was named so when it was originally the ending.
I agree. They have to rename Part II in order to make it work. “There and Back Again” has to be the title of the third part…
This.
Riddles in the dark makes absolutely no sense for the third film, it’s one scene that takes place in the first film
they should call the 2nd “There…”
and the 3rd “and Back Again”
Really depressing to think we have to wait even LONGER to see Smaug in all his terrifying glory.
Yeah
I was initially disappointed upon hearing the news, but then, I thought…the more of Middle Earth, the better!
The hobbit: Tolkien didn’t give me a name for this
How about, “The Milking of Smaug”.
Hobbit III: Hobbit Harder.
Hobbit III: Hobbit Day.
Hobbit III: Revenge of the Hobbit.
Hobbit III: Hobbit Real Good.
Damn you! I was going with Hobbit 3:Hobbit Harder!
Well played.
What about Hobbit 3: The Hobbit Rises ?
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire
The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Or perhaps;
The Hobbit: Fire and Water
The Hobbit: Gathering of the Clouds
The Hobbit I remember reading wasn’t a big book, how can you get two movies out of it, let alone three?
The Hobbit: How We Can Squeeze As Much Money From A Book That Is 300 Pages Long And Will Barely Cover Two Films.
I admit it isn’t as catchy as Riddles In The Dark but it is much more honest.
“Revenge of the Hobbit and the Phantom attack of the Dragon”
(^-^)
Using Smaug in the title might not be a good idea if the pronunciation of Smaug is uncertain. I say it like it rhymes with cow. But others say it like it rhymes with awe.
I read it as “Smog”.
The Hobbit: Butter Scraped Over Too Much Bread.
I actually am excited for the third one, but this is the first thing that my snarky brain came up with
Its clear that this trilogy will have way more material than the original book. Im glad to see Middle Earth again but I am still not sure we need 3 movies.
I have a title for it, lame ass movie that’s not needed because two movies is enough. Or, stop adding characters that are not in the book. Or, we don’t need a bridge movie because there are characters in The Hobbit that already bridge the film to Fellowship? Any of those work??
I seriously hope they don’t go with Riddles in the Dark because that would imply that we wouldn’t get to the goblin mine and Gollum till the third movie and if I remember correctly, that was only about halfway into the book. How are they going to get two whole movies between the beginning and the middle? Gandalf was still with them through that part so there’s no way they could move on to defeating the Necromancer.
I’ve been a bit worried from the things I’ve seen so far that The Hobbit may be too dark from the light-hearted fantasy novel that I love but I do trust Jackson to bring it to life.
“The Hobbit III : Milking the audience” ‘d be a pretty good title too.
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given the fact that the first real view of Smaug doesn’t occur until page 200 of a 265 page book, it seems like the first movie cannot go that deeply into the story. Escaping in barrels and floating away from the wood elves would make a better ending, or as a cliff hanger, maybe when they are captured by the elves. If in fact they end the second movie as the book does with Bilbo returning to the Shire, then the third movie could be culled from the appendicies, especially the 60 years between that and TLOTR. They could focus on the White Council and the friendship between Gandalf and Aragorn as they search for Gollum as well as the return of Balin to Mordor and the rise of Sauron. Seems like enough material for a movie.
As far as the third movie’s title: The Dark Lord Rises
In my opinion, the titles should have been called:
The Hobbit:
An Unexpected Journey
Riddles In The Dark
then
The Desolation Of Smaug
But honestly, the films are all going to be great, no matter what they are called.
If the first is “An Unexpected Journey”, and the second is “There and Back Again”, then the plainly obvious choice for the third would be “And What Happened After”.
I thought The Hobbit part 2 was going to be called Desolation of Smaug, did I miss an update or something? Either way, I’m excited for part 1 to come to my town so I can see it.
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