Jackson’s first Hobbit surpasses $1 billion

LOS ANGELES - Reuters

The movie collected a total of $1.1 billion at the box office.

Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first installment in a 3-D trilogy, has become the 15th film to surpass $1 billion at the global box office. 

Also on the list is Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” based on another of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works of fiction. The movie achieved worldwide success, collecting a total of $1.1 billion at the box office.

The final installment of “The Hobbit” film trilogy will be released on Dec. 17, 2014, five months later than planned, Warner Bros. said. “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” has been set to debut in July 2014. It will follow “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which came out in December 2012, and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” which is scheduled to be released on Dec. 13, 2013. 

“We’re excited to complete the trilogy the same way we started it, as a holiday treat for moviegoers everywhere,” said Dan Fellman, president of distribution for Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc. “The Hobbit” series is a prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson made into three Oscar-winning films about a decade ago.