The journey through Middle-earth just got a little bit longer. Director Peter Jackson announced Monday afternoon that his film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit—originally envisioned as two film installments—will now be a trilogy. Jackson said that he made the decision to split the film into three parts after seeing an impressive early cut of the first movie and big chunk of the second. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will hit theaters December 14. The second film will be released in Dec. 2013, with the third can be expected in the summer of 2014.
