Entertainment | Peter Jackson First Hobbit Movie Hits Theaters Dec. 2012 Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' will be split into two films By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted May 31, 2011 1:27 PM CDT Copied English actor Martin Freeman, center, who will play Bilbo Baggins, poses with other cast members from the movie The Hobbit in Wellington, New Zealand, Friday, Feb. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/NZPA, Ross Setford) Peter Jackson's two-film adaptation of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit has release dates. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released Dec. 14, 2012; its sequel, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is to be released Dec. 13, 2013. The films have suffered repeated delays over studio funding problems, a threatened actors' boycott, and ulcer surgery for Jackson. Shot consecutively, they began filming in March in New Zealand. The 3D films are prequels to Jackson's Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy and star Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, and Orlando Bloom. (Click to read more about why we think these films could be cursed.) Read These Next A former NFL Pro Bowler has died at age 36. Major websites, apps affected by massive outage. The penny is still with us, but the headache has already arrived. Secret Service finds something strange pointed at Trump's plane. Report an error