During SDCC 2012, some people started to make a point of Peter Jackson’s comment during Warner Bros' panel about wanting to go back to New Zealand and shooting additional footage for The Hobbit.

Some thought it would be for future extended cuts. Some even speculated that it would be for a third film.

And…weirdly enough, it looks like the latter rumor is the truth.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Jackson is currently working with WB to pursue the idea of shooting a 3rd film in The Hobbit series.  This isn’t something they can just rubber stamp, however, as all of the cast, crew, hell, even the creative staff, were signed for two films and two films alone.  So what this means is that everything has to be re-negotiated…and that’s not an easy task.

Now, I have no doubt that Peter Jackson has the best intentions, and all things that I’ve heard about the Hobbit footage screened so far has been universally positive (minus the 48 FPS thing) - but is there really enough content to support a third film?

The split to a second film is clearly creating new content wholesale (with the addition of a new female character played by Evangeline Lilly and Lord of the Rings characters like Legolas).  I assume a third film would be designed to split the difference between The Hobbit 3 and Fellowship of the Ring, and I don’t know that I can trust the creative forces with making that work.

Of course, money talks, and if the original Lord of the Rings trilogy was any indication, there is a LOT of money to talk.  We shall see.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits December 14th, 2012 with The Hobbit: There and Back Again hitting on December 12th, 2013. I assume The Hobbit: What The Ring Did Between Movies will hit in 2014.

Source: Hollywood Reporter.