Peter Jackson's recently announced third Hobbit film has officially been named.

The Lord of the Rings director confirmed that the planned two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel would be turned into a trilogy shortly after this year's Comic Con; where rumors of a third film started.

Jackson announced that a third film would be added thanks to a wealth of material in the appendices following the third book in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, "The Return Of The King"; and now that new film has a title -- after a little shuffling around -- as announced by Warner Bros. Pictures & ...

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson took to his Facebook page on Monday to address recent rumors that he may be turning his two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's Rings prequel The Hobbit into a trilogy, as the source material for the story goes far beyond the planned two-part epic.

During last month's annual Comic Con in San Diego, Jackson hinted at the possibility of adding a third film to the recently wrapped part one The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and currently-in-production second installment The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

And now, after weeks of negotiations with Warner ...

One of the highlights of every Comic-Con is the costumes, as fans try to outdo each other with elaborate and painstaking reproductions of the outfits worn by their favorite heroes and heroines from comics, movies and cartoons. But this year, there's going to be no competition at all, because there's a new cosplayer headed to Comic-Con — and as a brand new teaser poster reveals, he's a true wizard.

But is Comic-Con ready for Ian McKellen and the rest of the gang from The Hobbit?

That's rhetorical, of course; it's safe to say that fans have never been more ready to get their first real look...

The cast of the highly-anticipated The Hobbit movies is celebrating after finally wrapping director Peter Jackson's ambitious 266-day shoot.

Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett and Ian McKellen are among the stars who have jetted out to New Zealand for filming, which began in March last year.

And on Friday, Jackson took to his Facebook.com page to share his delight after completing the two blockbusters, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There And Back Again.

He writes, "We made it! Shoot day 266 and the end of principal photography on The Hobbit....

When Peter Jackson screened 10-minutes of footage from "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" to salivating exhibitors and journalists at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week, expectations went from "through the roof" to "sub-basement" due to it being projected in the still-experimental 48-frames-per-second format.

While the film itself received praise, watching it at twice the usual framerate of 24fps had experts likening it to "that soap opera look you get from badly calibrated TVs at Best Buy" or "Middle Earth looked like it was captured as part of a filmed stage play."

In other words it seem...

Of all the huge films coming out this year — "The Hunger Games," "The Avengers, "The Dark Knight Rises" — none is as hotly anticipated as "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," which arrives in theaters this December eight long years after "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Expectations, as they say, are sky high.

Or, they were, anyway, right up until Peter Jackson debuted the first 10 minutes of "The Hobbit" at CinemaCon in Las Vegas yesterday. That's how long it took to go from sky high to the sky is falling. Uh oh.

First, the good news: By all accounts, the movie itself —...

2012 is shaping up to be a very literate year in motion pictures. Over 30 films on the release schedule are based on books, short stories or comic books. Below are 10 of the most notable.

1. BEING FLYNN

Based on: Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn

Basic plot: A guy who works at a homeless shelter finds his estranged, alcoholic, deadbeat dad wandering in one night.

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Paul Dano, Julianne Moore

Director: Paul Weitz

Why it’ll make you thankful: I’m guessing your father isn’t in a homeless shelter…

Release date: Opened March 2 (limited)

2...

There are a lot of great movies coming out this year, and every one of them wants you to believe it's the biggest film event of the decade. "The Dark Knight Rises"! "The Hunger Games"! The Avengers"!

But as fantastic as those films look, there's one movie coming out this year that is set to rule them all: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." So before the onslaught of contenders begins, we thought we'd take a look at everything we know so far about this year's champ.

Release Date: December 14

Star Power: Many of the biggest stars from "The Lord of the Rings" are returning to reprise the...

"Hobbit" director Peter Jackson was forced to halt filming on his prequels in December when local police issued a severe weather warning and urged him and his crew to pack up as driving rains and floods hit their remote New Zealand location.

The filmmaker has posted footage of the storms in his latest behind-the-scenes video blog from the set of the top secret movie, which has been shot across his native New Zealand for the past eight months.

Jackson explains he was shooting scenes of dwarves floating down the Pelorus River for the second sequel when blue skies clouded over and the weathe...

Peter Jackson has completed the star-studded cast of "The Hobbit" after signing up Billy Connolly to play a dwarf warrior.

The actor will tackle the role of Dain Ironfoot and joins Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom in the director's "Lord of the Rings" prequel.

Jackson tells The Hollywood Reporter, "We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the Battlefield!"

"The Hobbit: ...

An open audition for Peter Jackson's new The Hobbit movie had to be shut down on Saturday after more than 3,000 hopefuls turned up.

The director is currently in New Zealand filming the two-part Lord of the Rings prequel, which stars Martin Freeman, and a casting call for a part in the film attracted thousands of applicants over the weekend.

Producers expected around 1,000 wannabes to turn out for the auditions in Lower Hutt, near the capital city of Wellington, but they were overrun when more than 3,000 arrived.

Police were called to help control the crowds and the auditions were shut...

We spotted Orlando Bloom and his wife Miranda Kerr taking their son Flynn and dog for a hike in Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles on his birthday yesterday. The actor turned 35 years old.

Orlando is reprising his role as Legolas in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." In the film hobbit Bilbo Baggins journeys to the Lonely Mountain with a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug.

The film hits theaters on Dec. 14, 2012.

If you’re family is like mine, you probably got one for Christmas. I have an aunt who has given on to me every year since I was seven. Each time I open the wrapping paper and feign surprise, as if my present could have been anything else. The first few times she gave me this turd of a gift, I hung it dutifully on my wall for the entire year. Each time I looked at it, I would wonder how Chocolate Labradors or Monster Trucks define me as a person (News Flash: They don’t). Now, as soon as she leaves the room, I throw my gift right in the trash without even a modicum of guilt. Still don’t know ...

The Hobbit director Peter Jackson is offering a fan the chance to visit the set of the movie in New Zealand to raise money for charity.

The filmmaker is currently shooting the Lord of the Rings prequel, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel, with stars including Martin Freeman, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

Now Jackson is offering up the chance to visit the set of the film as part of the Stars Come Out Auction, which launched on Trademe.co.nz this week to raise funds for scientist Sir Ray Avery's charity Medicine Mondiale.

Other offers up for auction includ...

It's almost time to return to Middle Earth! On Tuesday Warner Bros. Pictures released the first official trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and you can check it out right here!

An Unexpected Journey follows the adventures of Hobbit Bilbo Baggins that took place before the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. Bilbo joins 13 dwarves, led by the warrior Thorin Oakenshield, on a quest to reclaim a lost dwarf kingdom since taken over by the dragon Smaug. Along the way Bilbo encounters Goblins, Spiders, Trolls and Elves; and he finds the precious ring that once belonged to the evil Sauron ...

Charlize Theron, Kate Beckinsale, Johnny Depp and Robert Downey, Jr. have topped a new list to find the sexiest movie stars of next year's blockbusters.

Editors at leading movie news and ticket website Fandango.com asked film fans to select the stars that turn them on in the most-anticipated releases of 2012 and the foursome came top of the separate male and female hot lists.

Theron, who will terrify as the evil queen in "Snow White & The Huntsman," has topped the women's list of sexiest female stars, beating "Gravity's" Sandra Bullock and Kate Beckinsale, the star of 2012 movies "Total R...

Former "Lost" star Evangeline Lilly attended the "Real Steel" Los Angeles premiere on Sunday looking lovely in a long white dress.

Considering the actress gave birth to a baby boy in May, we think she looks extra fabulous. Do you agree?

In addition to "Real Steel," Lilly stars in the upcoming "Lord of the Rings" prequels, ""The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and "The Hobbit: There And Back Again."

Evangeline Lilly fears "purist" fans will hate her role in The Hobbit because her character didn't feature in the book and was invented solely for the fantasy film adaptation.

The Lost actress' Sylvan elf Tauriel was created especially for director Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel The Hobbit.

However, Lilly admits she is terrified Tolkien devotees won't respond well when the movie epic is released next year.

She says, "The Hobbit didn't include female characters at all. I can see why additional characters were needed to round ...

Superman fans will have to wait until 2013 to see the superhero fly back into cinemas - studio bosses have delayed the film's release to make way for "The Hobbit" next year.

The highly-anticipated new big screen Superman outing, "Man of Steel," starring Henry Cavill as the superhero, was initially slated for a December 2012 release, but execs at Warner Bros. have decided to delay the movie's debut by six months.

The first installment of the "Lord of the Rings" prequel will now be released in December, with "Man of Steel" hitting theatres six months later in June, 2013, according to The Ho...

Peter Jackson has disappointed film fans by turning down the chance to talk about The Hobbit at Comic-Con later this week - because it is "too early" to discuss the project.

More than 120,000 people are expected to attend the massive comic book convention in San Diego, California to see Hollywood's biggest filmmakers and stars talk about their upcoming movies.

Jackson was invited to chair a presentation on his highly-anticipated Lord of the Rings prequel, but the director snubbed the offer because the film is still in the first stages of shooting.

In a post on his Facebook.com page, J...

Liv Tyler is eager to re-team with her Lord Of The Rings cast mates Ian Mckellen, Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood by joining the cast of the highly-anticipated prequel The Hobbit.

The actress played Arwen in the first three films in the fantasy franchise, but she has so far been left out of the line-up for Peter Jackson's new epic adventure.

Tyler admits seeing the rest of the Lord Of The Rings cast get back together has made her long for a cameo role.

She tells Britain's Daily Express, "I've seen some of the other actors. I had such an amazing time making those films. I wish that I co...

The very, very long and twisted road to the production of The Hobbit has finally led to the beginning of production. And thank goodness! Entertainment Weekly has just posted the first official photos from the set to mollify fans and we've got them for you.

I've never been happier to write a story. The Hobbit is one of the beloved books of my childhood, just as it has been for generations of fans. After the success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, people hoped this film wouldn't be too long in the making. Problem after problem plagued the production, from money woes to location issues to c...

On June 28, Warner Home Video will release all three of Peter Jackson’s visual masterpieces on Blu-ray in a 15-disc stunning collection entitled "The Lord of the Rings The Motion Picture Trilogy: Extended Edition."

To celebrate the occasion, Warner Home Video has announced a count-down to "Middle-earth Midnight Madness" celebratory event at Best Buy’s West Los Angeles location, 11301 W. Pico Blvd., where fans can join in the anticipation of the magic moment when they’ll finally be able to own the new extended edition trilogy on Blu-ray.

Brimming with enthusiasm, fans from all over the co...

Dame Edna Everage is the latest addition to The Hobbit cast - Australian comedian Barry Humphries has signed up to the highly-anticipated Peter Jackson movie.

Shooting began on the much-delayed project earlier this year, with British actor Martin Freeman playing the film's lead role of Bilbo Baggins.

Now, director Jackson has confirmed beloved funnyman Humphries - most famous for donning a purple wig to play the acid-tongued Dame - will play the Goblin King, with the help of motion capture technology.

He writes on his Facebook.com page, "I'm highly excited that Barry Humphries will be...