The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (previously titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again) is the third and final installment of movie adaptations of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic novel, The Hobbit. It will follow The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and will be both directed and produced by Sir Peter Jackson.

Filming took place primarily in New Zealand. The film stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug and the Necromancer, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield.

On February 28, 2013, it was confirmed there is a new release date for There and Back Again. 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 18, 2014.

Etymology
The previous title was based on Bilbo's title for his book; it is an alternate title for the original novel, The Hobbit.

In April 2014, Peter Jackson announced that the title had been changed to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. This was done better convey the tone of the film since The Hobbit had been expanded from a two-part film to a trilogy.

Cast

 * Martin Freeman and Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
 * Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf
 * Richard Armitage as Thorin II Oakenshield
 * Ken Stott as Balin
 * Graham McTavish as Dwalin
 * William Kircher as Bifur
 * James Nesbitt as Bofur
 * Stephen Hunter as Bombur
 * Dean O'Gorman as Fili
 * Aidan Turner as Kili
 * 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
 * Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
 * Hugo Weaving as Elrond
 * Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
 * Sir Christopher Lee as Saruman
 * Billy Connolly as Dain Ironfoot
 * Orlando Bloom as Legolas
 * Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel
 * Luke Evans as Bard
 * Lee Pace as Thranduil
 * Michael Persbrandt as Beorn
 * Bret McKenzie as Lindir
 * John Bell as Bain
 * Conan Stevens as Bolg
 * Ryan Gage as Alfrid
 * Robin Kerr as Elros
 * Simon London as Feren

Trivia

 * The film will be the last film adaptation of Tolkien's Middle-earth, as the Tolkien Estate has forbidden any more films from being made (at least for now).
 * The previous title came from Bilbo's fictional volume in the Red Book of Westmarch: There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale.
 * If rumors are true that the Necromancer will appear, then this is the only time that Sauron will appear in physical form in the films (excluding flashbacks).
 * The film will include a few characters not appearing in the book, including Radagast the Brown, Tauriel, Legolas, and Sauron.

Box office
As of January 4, 2015, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has earned $220,602,017 in the United States and Canada and $502,100,000 in other territories for a worldwide total of $722,702,017. Worldwide, it is the fifth highest-grossing film of 2014 and the the sixty-third highest-grossing film of all time. Its grosses exceeded its estimated $250 million production cost 12 days after its release, a feat also achieved by Marvel's The Avengers in 2012. 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 and $700 million in 27 days.

Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews. It has a rating of 61% on Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic gave the film mixed reviews, with a rating of 59 out of 100.