Kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson has revealed a third Hobbit film is to be made.
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Originally The Hobbit was meant to be made up of two parts - An Unexpected Journey and There and Back Again - but Jackson, creator of the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, has announced in a statement he will be creating a third.
"We recognised that the richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, gave rise to a simple question: do we tell more of the tale?" he said.
"And the answer from our perspective as filmmakers and fans was an unreserved 'yes'.
"We know how much of the tale of Bilbo Baggins, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur would remain untold if we did not fully realise this complex and wonderful adventure."
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The films are based on JRR Tolkien's novel, which tells the story of how hobbit Bilbo Baggins acquired the ring of power the Lord of the Rings trilogy is centred on.
The first Hobbit film is due out in December, the second a year later and the third in 2014.
All three films are being shot in digital 3D.
