The Hobbit titles and release dates announced

the hobbit

The full titles for Peter Jackson’s two part movie adaptation of The Hobbit have been revealed.

Though rumoured monikers have been floating around online since March this year, Jackson and co have finally confirmed them via a press release.

So... Part one is entitled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and will be released on 14 December 2012, while part two is entitled The Hobbit: There And Back Again , and will be released 13 December 2013.

Both titles are in keeping with JRR Tolkien’s original tome, with There And Back Again being the alternate title that the author used for his 1937 book.

Meanwhile, An Unexpected Journey is a clever riff on An Unexpected Party , the title of the first chapter of The Hobbit .

Jackson also confirmed during an online Q&A session that the White Council will be appearing in the Hobbit films. The White Council are a group of Eldar Lords and Wizards who are tasked by elf Galadriel (a returning Cate Blanchett) with controlling the power of Dol Guldur, the dungeons of the Necromancer.

“I will confirm that both the White Council and Dol Guldur will feature in the movies,” he says of the Council.

“And not just in one scene either. Just how to visualise it has been a challenge, but fortunately Alan Lee and John Howe went crazy with ideas, and it should look pretty cool.”

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.