The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (originally titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again) is the third and final installment of the three-part movie adaptations of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic novel, The Hobbit, as well as the final instalment of director Sir Peter Jackson's Middle-earth Saga. It will follow An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and together, they act as the prequel trilogy to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Filming took place primarily in New Zealand. The film stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage as Thorin II Oakenshield, Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug and Sauron the Necromancer, Manu Bennett as Azog the Defiler, Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman, Lee Pace as Thranduil the Elvenking, Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf, Adian Turner as Kili, Ken Stott as Balin and Billy Connolly as Dáin II Ironfoot.

On February 28, 2013, it was confirmed there is a new release date for There and Back Again (as it was called at the time). It has been announced via press, and now mirrors the release dates of Sir Peter Jackson's Middle-earth films, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The movie's release date has been rescheduled from July 19, 2014 to December 17, 2014.

The film became a massive commercial and financial success, having grossed over $951 million worldwide, surpassing The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2014, the fourth highest-grossing entry in the Middle-earth Saga and the 26th highest-grossing film of all time.

Much of the critical praise went to the spectacular visual style, the action sequences, the emotion and the performances of the cast, particulary that of Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage, while some thought that the series would've been better if it had just remained a two-part film (as Sir Peter Jackson originally intended before he decided to make the series a three-part film), as well as criticizing some more "narrative flaws" and the 144 minute running time.

However, the titular battle, the film's satisfying closure to the trilogy, the music, especially The Last Goodbye end credits song by Billy Boyd, Sir Peter Jackson's direction and how he managed to tie up The Hobbit with The Lord of the Rings was also praised as well.

At the 87th Academy Awards, the film received a nomination for Best Achievement in Sound Editing, as well as receiving a BAFTA nomination for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects.

Plot
Bilbo and the Dwarves watch from Lonely Mountain as the dragon Smaug destroys Lake-town. Bard manages to break out of prison and kill Smaug with the black arrow given to him by his son, Bain, and the dragon's falling body crushes the fleeing Master of Laketown. Bard, chosen as the new leader, and the Laketown people seek refuge in the ruins of Dale. Tauriel leaves the dwarves and travels to investigate Mount Gundabad with Legolas, but not before Kili gives Tauriel his runestone as a promise that he will come back to her. Upon arriving at Erebor, Fili, Kili, Bofur and Oin are informed by Bilbo that Thorin has been inflicted with Smaug's "dragon sickness" as he searched for the Arkenstone. As Thorin and the dwarves search for the jewel, it is revealed that Bilbo actually stole the Arkenstone from Smaug but knows it should be hidden from Thorin, who orders the entrance of Lonely Mountain be sealed off, and the dwarves rebuild the gate under his command.

At one point, Bilbo is seen by Thorin to be holding something suspisious in his hand which is revealed to be an acorn that he picked up in Beorn's garden and tells Thorin that he will keep it to bring back to the Shire to plant it in his garden, and every time that he looked at it, he would remember everything about his journey with the dwarves, the good, the bad and how lucky he was "to have made it home".

Meanwhile, Galadriel arrives at Dol Guldur and lifts the spell of concealment on the fortress before freeing Gandalf from captivity as Sauron and the spirits of the Nazgul arrive and attempt to corrupt her, saying that she is "one light alone in the darkness that cannot fight the shadow". But Galadriel states that she is "not alone" before Elrond and Saruman arrive and battle the spirits while Radagast arrives and escorts Gandalf away to safety. When Sauron confronts the group, Galadriel uses Eärendil's light to banish Sauron and the Nazgul from the fortress, forcing them to flee to Mordor. Saruman tells Elrond to take the exhausted Galadriel to safety while he deals with Sauron. Gandalf leaves Radagast for Erebor to warn them of the Orc army approaching the Mountain. Azog, marching on Erebor with his vast Orc army, sends Bolg to Gundabad to summon their other army. Legolas and Tauriel witness the march of Bolg's army, bolstered by Goblins and giant bats bred for war and leave to warn the others.

While Bard and the Laketown survivors shelter in Dale, Thranduil and his elf army arrives with supplies and aid, and forms an alliance with Bard, wishing to claim a necklace of white gems from the Mountain. Bard attempts to negotiate and reason with Thorin to avoid war, who refuses to cooperate, much to the company's dismay. After Gandalf arrives at Dale, Bilbo sneaks out of Erebor to hand the Arkenstone over to Thranduil and Bard and tells them that they can use it to trade it to Thorin in exchange for a share of the gold that was promised. The next day, Bard and Thranduil's armies gather at the gates of Erebor, offering to trade the Arkenstone for gold. Thorin learns of Bilbo's deception and nearly kills him, before Gandalf forces Thorin to release Bilbo. Meanwhile, Thorin's cousin Dáin arrives with a Dwarf army and prepares to attack the Elves and Men before Azog's army arrive. With the Orcs outnumbering Dain's army, Thranduil's and Bard's forces, along with Gandalf and Bilbo, join the battle.

Inside Erebor, Thorin, refusing to fight, suffers an hallucination before regaining his sanity and leading his company into battle, quoting the famous words "will you follow me...one last time?"

While the other Dwarves of the company aid Dain's forces, Thorin rides towards Ravenhill with Dwalin, Fíli, and Kíli to kill Azog and force the Orc army to retreat. Meanwhile, Tauriel arrives with Legolas to warn the dwarves of Bolg's approaching army, with Bilbo following them using the One Ring, but is knocked unconscious by Bolg after warning the dwarves. Azog kills Fíli in front of everyone before entering an epic final showdown with Thorin, while Kíli dies protecting Tauriel from Bolg. After Legolas kills Bolg as a result, the Great Eagles then arrive with Radagast and Beorn, and the Orc armies are quickly overcome, finally concluding the battle.

Bilbo regains consciousness and finds that Thorin has killed Azog but has been fatally wounded in the process. Thorin makes peace with Bilbo, stating that "if more people valued a home above hoarded gold, this world would be a merrier place", before succumbing to his injuries and dying. Bilbo weeps over the loss of his friend.

On Thranduil's suggestion, Legolas leaves to meet with a young Dunedain ranger going by the name Strider. Tauriel mourns Kili, and Thranduil accepts their love. Bilbo bids farewell to Balin, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Dwalin, Bombur, Bofur, Dori, Ori and Nori and journeys home to the Shire with Gandalf. As the two part, Gandalf admits his knowledge of Bilbo's ring and cautions him against using it. Bilbo returns to Bag End to find his belongings being auctioned off because he was presumed dead, and uses the contract presented to him by Thorin's company before the expedition which still bears his signature to prove his identity. When they ask about who the person Bilbo pledged his service to named "Thorin Oakenshield" is, Bilbo looks back and says before he enters his house "he was my friend".

Sixty years later, on his 111th birthday, Bilbo receives a visit from Gandalf and runs happily to the door to greet him.

Cast

 * Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Ian Holm as old Bilbo
 * Richard Armitage as Thorin II Oakenshield
 * Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey
 * Ken Stott as Balin
 * Graham McTavish as Dwalin
 * William Kircher as Bifur
 * James Nesbitt as Bofur
 * Stephen Hunter as Bombur
 * Dean O'Gorman as Fíli
 * Aidan Turner as Kíli
 * John Callen as Oin
 * Peter Hambleton as Gloin
 * Jed Brophy as Nori
 * Mark Hadlow as Dori
 * Adam Brown as Ori
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug and Sauron / The Necromancer
 * Manu Bennett as Azog the Defiler
 * Hugo Weaving as Elrond
 * Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
 * Sir Christopher Lee as Saruman the White
 * Billy Connolly as Dáin II Ironfoot
 * Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf
 * Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel
 * Luke Evans as Bard the bowman
 * Lee Pace as Thranduil the elvenking
 * Michael Persbrandt as Beorn
 * Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown
 * Bret McKenzie as Lindir
 * John Bell as Bain
 * John Tui as Bolg
 * Ryan Gage as Alfrid Lickspittle
 * Robin Kerr as Elros
 * Simon London as Feren
 * Stephen Fry as the Master of Lake-town

Marketing
A teaser trailer for the film was released on 28 July 2014 attached to Guardians of the Galaxy, Into the Storm, and If I Stay. The second theatrical trailer was released on 6 November 2014 attached to Interstellar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.

To promote the film's release, Wellington-based association football club, Wellington Phoenix, wore a special designed jersey to commemorate the opening of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. The custom, film-themed jersey was worn only once, on 13 December 2014. In the film's Japanese release on December 13, Warner Brothers collaborated with mobile gaming company A-Lim to bring Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and Legolas into the game Brave Frontier at the end of December as Vortex Dungeon units. The campaign only runs until February 2015.

Smaug made a guest appearance, animated by WETA and voiced again by Cumberbatch, on the satire show The Colbert Report on December 12, 2014 to promote the film.

Theatrical release
The world première of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was held in London at Leicester Square on 1 December 2014. The film opened in theatres on 11 December 2014 in New Zealand, on 12 December in the United Kingdom and on 17 December in the United States. Warner Bros released the film on 18 December 2014 in Greece and 26 December in Australia. The film was released in China on January 23, 2015.

Worldwide
As of 22 February 2015, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has earned a gross of $253,949,155 in the North America and $697,600,000 in other territories for a worldwide total of $951,549,155. Worldwide, it is the second highest-grossing film of 2014 behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and the 26th highest-grossing film of all time. Its grosses exceeded its estimated $250 million production cost 12 days after its release. The film reached a milestone of $100 million in 4 days, $300 million in 12 days, $400 million in 16 days, $500 million in 18 days, $600 million in 20 days, $700 million in 27 days, $800 million in 38 days and $900 million in 53 days.

The film failed to earn $1 billion at the box office despite various critics projecting it to reach that milestone. The Hollywood Reporter said that the possibility of The Battle of the Five Armies grossing $1 billion worldwide was extremely low due to "plunging exchange rates around the globe," that were witnessed in that year and that Warner Bros. and MGM ultimately will take in nearly $90 million less than they planned on receiving due to rising dollar and plunging foreign currencies. However, despite this failure, Forbes has declared the trilogy "an unmitigated finacial grand-slam for all parties."

Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews. It has a rating of 60% "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus reads: "Though somewhat overwhelmed by it's own spectacle, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ends Peter Jackson's second Middle-earth trilogy on a reasonably satisfying note". Metacritic gave the film positive-to-mixed reviews, with a rating of 59 out of 100..