The Hobbit Movie Titles and Release Dates Announced

Just before the long weekend hit, Warner Bros. Pictures finally announced the release dates and final titles of all three Hobbit movies

Just before the long weekend hit, Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM jointly announced the release dates and final titles of all three Hobbit movies:

The final film in Peter Jacksons trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, now titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will be released worldwide on July 18, 2014. The title of the second installment in the franchise will be The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and the film will be released on December 13, 2013. The first film in the trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, opens this holiday season, on December 14, 2012.

Previously, we covered some of the hullabaloo around the decision to release the movie as a trilogy and not the two-movie package that was originally planned.

Here, the big news is that fans won't have to wait a whole year to see the last film – rather, six months (still an eternity to fans). The other revelation is the decision to call that second film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

What do you think?