10 Great Cliffhangers That Left You Gagging For The Next Movie

5. The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit, spread over three films and hugely expanded upon in an effort to repeat the box office success of his earlier The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, might not be quite up to the same standards of the previous fantasy epic but is still performing very well at the box office. The Desolation Of Smaug certainly quickened the pace over the langorous An Unexpected Journey while giving us a great villain in Smaug, the enormous dragon voiced by Benedict Cumberpatch. Bilbo Baggins' encounter with Smaug - and failed attempt to kill him by smothering him in molten gold - saw the film concluding with the dragon flying off to destroy Laketown. "What have we done?" mutters Bilbo in horror as Smaug flies away. Nothing good, it seems, but fans will know for sure when the concluding chapter of the trilogy The Battle Of The Five Armies is released this month. Unless you've read Tolkien's lore, in which case you probably already have a pretty good idea.