Jackson Reveals The Hobbit 3 Now “The Battle of the Five Armies”

Rumors of a name change from the original “There and Back Again” had been swirling for the last week or so, but Peter Jackson set the speculation to rest this morning with an announcement on his Facebook page. The new title for the third Hobbit film will be “The Battle of the Five Armies”.

A piece from Jackson’s post:

“Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo’s own, with hidden paths revealing their secrets to us as we’ve gone along. “There and Back Again” felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo’s arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived “there” in the “Desolation of Smaug”.

When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.

And so: “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” it is.”

He goes on to say that the “There and Back Again” title might still be used when the box set is released next year, as it encompasses Bilbo’s complete journey. You can read the complete post here.

For those of you still reeling over the concept of 3 Hobbit films made from one little book, well, here’s one more thing for you to rail about. Or not. What do you think of the name change? Do you think it’s appropriate, considering what’s to come?

Image: New Line Cinema