The Playlist

Part 2 Of 'The Hobbit' Entitled 'The Desolation of Smaug,' Part 3 Dated For July 18th, 2014

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 1, 2012 10:14 AM
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5 Comments

News

One problem with turning your two-part fantasy epic into a three-part fantasy epic is that you need to find a new title from somewhere. It's alright when a "Twilight" or a "Hunger Games" decide to split their final installment into two, because they can always go for a "Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 and 2" or "Mockingjay Pt. 1 and 2" type deal, but for "The Hobbit," Peter Jackson had already added two new subtitles to his one-book source material, admittedly ones already associated with the books -- "An Unexpected Journey" and "There And Back Again."

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Fall Movie Preview: Our 15 Most Anticipated Films For The Rest Of 2012

By The Playlist Staff
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August 27, 2012 1:19 PM
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7 Comments

Features

The summer movie seasons is pretty much wrapped up, with the Venice Film Festival kicking off this week, and Telluride and Toronto just around the corner. And as ever, the fall festival season sees us move away from superheroes and the like for a few blessed months, in favor of some fare that's a little more adult, and geared with an eye towards awards.

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Theaters Won't Charge Extra To Watch 'The Hobbit' In 48fps

By Ryan Gowland
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August 23, 2012 9:45 AM
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1 Comment

News

No matter where you stand on the issue of director Peter Jackson shooting his now three-part adaptation of "The Hobbit" in 48 frames per second — twice the standard film speed — at least it won't cost any extra to watch it that way. At least, not any more than what you're already spending to watch the film in 3D. That's particularly good news for anyone that saw the 10 minutes of footage that Jackson unveiled at CinemaCon earlier this year, where the reaction was mixed at best.

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Calendars & Treasure Chest Of Brand New 'The Hobbit' Images Surface

By Edward Davis
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August 21, 2012 12:33 PM
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0 Comments

News

Tolkienites, Ringers and Hobbit fans are in for a treat. A small treasure trove of material from Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" has arrived including a new calendar that obsessives will pore over.

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Benedict Cumberbatch Says You'll Only See Smaug's Eye In The First 'The Hobbit' Movie

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 20, 2012 5:20 PM
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3 Comments

News

...and then there were three. With everything official for "The Hobbit" to be turned into a trilogy, it looks like we're going to be talking about Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth for a lot longer than we expected. And we can also start picking apart when various members of the massive cast will appear across the span of the three pictures. And for those of you who are fans of Benedict Cumberbatch, you won't be seeing much of his Smaug until at least "The Hobbit: There And Back Again" (or whatever the second entry winds up being called).

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48fps Version Of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Will Only Play In Limited Release

By Cain Rodriguez
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August 8, 2012 9:23 AM
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6 Comments

News

With all the talk of the recently announced third film (“The Hobbit: Tokyo Drift,” anyone?), the earlier hoopla over intended framerate of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" films has fallen to the wayside. In case you forgot, the director showcased some footage from “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” in the intended 48fps 3D format in the spring at CinemaCon, and the reaction was less than enthusiastic. Despite Jackson’s defense of the format, it looks like the response from CinemaCon has cooled Warner Bros. on their push for the format.

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M. Night Shyamalan Has 'Proof' For Syfy; 'After Earth' Trailer May Arrive With 'The Hobbit'

By Benjamin Wright
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August 7, 2012 3:00 PM
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4 Comments

News

It may be hard to recall now, but there was once a time when director M. Night Shyamalan was coined by Time magazine as “The Next Spielberg,” and the fact that almost everything the helmer touched, starting with 1999’s “The Sixth Sense” seemed to turn to gold, he was certainly becoming the go-to poster boy for blockbuster genre filmmaking in the same vein as the bearded one. Now after a storied series of missteps which includes directing films like “The Happening” and “The Last Airbender,” along with a notoriously humorless approach to looking at his own work, much of the goodwill Shyamalan built early in his career has seemed to all but vanish from even some of his most adamant defenders.

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A Slightly Revised 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Trailer Focuses On The 13 Dwarves

By Edward Davis
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August 5, 2012 8:30 AM
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3 Comments

News

"I cannot guarantee his safety, nor will I be responsible for his fate," Richard Armitage's Thorin Oakenshield says to Ian McKellen's Gandalf The Grey about Martin Freeman's diminutive Bilbo Baggins in the latest trailer for Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Hey, I have a great idea, let's bring a small hobbit on a perilous journey that he may not survive!

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'The Hobbit: Tokyo Drift' (Or Whatever It Ends Up Being Called) Doesn't Yet Have A Script Or A Budget Yet

By Oliver Lyttelton
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August 1, 2012 10:24 AM
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3 Comments

Features

Like it or not, we're getting a third "Hobbit" movie. What started as rumors at Comic-Con became firm negotiations last week, and on Monday, it was announced that the as-yet untitled third film will follow six months or so after the already-scheduled second, "The Hobbit: There And Back Again," in the summer of 2014. Beyond that it's likely to feature additional scenes from the appendices, not much is known about Peter Jackson's actual plans, only that deals are in place for the actors, Warner Bros have given the go-ahead, and additional filming will take place in the near future, likely for two months or so.

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New Pics Of Andy Serkis & Martin Freeman In Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 26, 2012 10:56 AM
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1 Comment

News

While the decision is yet to come down on whether or Warner Bros. and Peter Jackson will embark on additional shooting to create "The Hobbit: Cashing In" aka a third movie in the upcoming series of the films (we hope the director reads our open letter), they haven't kept their eyes off the prize in marketing the first movie, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

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