10 Mega-Successful Blockbusters Everyone Expected To Fail

3. The Hobbit

Quite typical of Peter Jackson, the production of The Hobbit has been a rather open affair, with the film's shift in director (Guillermo Del Toro was originally going to helm the prequel) and move from one to two to three movies being delivered to fans blow-by-blow. But while that certainly served to get a lot of die-hard fan's stoked, for others it led to some major alarm bells going off. It's been discussed ad nauseum whether the decision to split a book smaller than any of The Lord Of The Rings into a trilogy was a smart move. Maybe the current consensus (some good filmmaking amongst a narrative stretched a little too far) will change once The Battle Of The Five Armies arrives, but for now at worst The Hobbit is regarded as average films that are far from the Star Wars prequel stinker we feared. But even if you're not wholly convinced there's no denying the financial success of the movies, proving wrong those who thought audiences wouldn't part with their cash for a third of a full experience; both An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation Of Smaug have grossed more than the first two Rings flicks (albeit with inflation and that 3D surcharge).