"The Hobbit" films get names and release dates
Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” filmmaker Peter Jackson’s long-awaited two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” has a pair of names and release dates.
New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. and MGM announced this week that “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” will be released Dec. 14, 2012. The second film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” is to be released Dec. 13, 2013.
The films have suffered repeated delays over studio funding problems, a threatened actors’ boycott and ulcer surgery for Jackson, reports the Associated Press. Shot consecutively, the two-part project began filming in March in New Zealand.
The 3-D “Hobbit” films are prequels to Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which won a combined 17 Oscars around the turn of the 21st century.
“The Hobbit” films will star Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Mikael Persbrandt, Stephen Fry and Chickasha-born actor Lee Pace.
In addition, “LOTR” alums Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis and Orlando Bloom will reprise their roles in the prequels.
-BAM
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