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 President Monroe's daughter wrote a desperate plea in 1839. 'Butt-breathing' could be the future for struggling patients. Author Michael Wolf has sued the first lady. Online boo-bears go after the demo firm tearing White House apart. Report an error