The third Hobbit movie based on the one Hobbit book used to be subtitled “There And Back Again,” but now it’s going to be called “The Battle Of The Five Armies.” At one point, Peter Jackson and company flirted with calling it “Into The Fire,” but “The Battle Of The Five Armies” is officially the choice. I guess “The Hobbit 3: 3 More Hours Of This” was too on the nose?
Said Peter Jackson:
“Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo’s own…
Oh my God, you are the dullest man in the world.
…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”.
When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.
And so: “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” it is.
As Professor Tolkien intended, “There and Back Again” encompasses Bilbo’s entire adventure, so don’t be surprised if you see it used on a future box-set of all three movies.”
Oh, so this is a business as well as a creative decision? Shocking. By the way, I hear the full title was “The Battle of the Five Armies That Just Sort Of Dick Around For An Hour Until a Deus Ex Machina Comes Or Gandalf Decides To Bust Out a Spell He’s Been Inexplicably Sitting On The Entire Time.” It was between that and “There And Back Again And Again And Again And Again Oh God I’m So Bored.”
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opens December 12th. I’m more excited about jury duty than a new Peter Jackson movie. Obviously I’m a huge fan.