Peter Jackson Reveals New Title of Third 'Hobbit' Film: 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'

Peter Jackson did what so many artists do these days to make big announcements about their work...he took to his Facebook page. This particular announcement revealed that the third "Hobbit" movie's title has been changed from "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" to "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." It's a much more appropriate title because according to Jackson, Bilbo already arrived "there" in "Smaug" plus, the new title sums up the fact that there are five armies that will engage in a battle. Pretty straightforward, don't you think?

Here is Jackson's complete post (continues after the jump):

Inside Information...

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".

Second Official Trailer Released for 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

The second of three official trailers for Peter Jackson’s sequel to “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” has just been released by Warner Bros. and we know you’ll want to check this out.

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” hits theaters this December 13, and the quest of the dwarves of Erebor to reclaim their homeland begins. Martin Freeman returns as Bilbo, along with Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel.

We don’t get a very good look at Smaug in this trailer but we see that he’s not too thrilled with Bilbo thieving his gold. We do hear that deep, wonderful Cumberbatchian (new word) voice though. Perfection!

“Come now, don’t be shy...step into the light.”



-Larissa Mrykalo

Behind the scenes 'Hobbit' footage!

Fans are clamoring to get as much info and glimpses into the the highly-anticipated Peter Jackson film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, opening Dec. 14.

But, as luck would have it, Warner Bros doesn't want you to have to wait a whole week before getting a taste of the Shire, and have released 20 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage and six clips.

According to Collider.com, "the footage is loaded with some awesome stuff including Peter Jackson directing Andy Serkis as Gollum with Martin Freeman, all the dwarves with Bilbo in Bag End, Elijah Wood and Ian Holm in Bag End, Jackson directing Ian McKellen as Gandalf as well as Jackson directing Christopher Lee!"

This is some really cool stuff for LOTR fans.

If you want to avoid spoilers, don’t watch! (you’re going to watch, aren’t you?)

What are you most excited about seeing in the film? Can Dec. 14 get here fast enough?

-Larissa Mrykalo

Red Cross, 'Walking Dead' zombify celebs for bloody cause

Zombie Peter Jackson, courtesy AMC

First they helped create a zombie presidential candidate, and now AMC/Walking Dead has partnered with the American Red Cross and are applying their brains to blood - as in encouraging the living to donate blood by zombifying celebs.

Because blood supplies are incredibly crucial during disasters (including a zombie apocalypse), the "Use Your Brains, Give Blood" campaign has given the undead treatment to some famous faces like Peter Jackson, Jimmy Smits, Mena Suvari and more with the help of makeup effects guru Greg Nicotero. OK, so it looks like Nicotero gave the celebs a Photoshop undead treatment, but this is still pretty cool.

-Aaron Sagers