15 Things That Almost Completely Changed The Hobbit Trilogy

11. It Was Almost Only Two Films

Way back in 1995 when Peter Jackson first spoke of his interest in adapting the Lord of The Rings, he envisaged the films as a trilogy, but not as they were eventually released. His original tentative plan would have had The Hobbit as the first film in the trilogy, followed by two films made up of the other two. In the end, thankfully, he started with the stronger foundation of the LOTR trilogy proper. But even when he was plotting how to set out The Hobbit, Jackson didn't come to the idea of a trilogy until very late on. Originally he wanted to do two films - one looking at the Hobbit itself and another focused on the material released around the text - but that was abandoned for a second plan to split the Hobbit story at a natural point where Bilbo's relationship with the dwarves changed. Finally though, because he'd filmed so much material and bloated the skeleton of the Hobbit story with so many new elements, Jackson had to extend to three films: making the final one an extended set-piece culmination for its two predecessors and tying a bow on the story. Whether that was a good idea even now is up for debate.