Because Trilogies sell. Box sets are god.

A concequence from the massive success of the original Star Wars trilogy. Now every moive series has to be a trilogy.

Indiana Jones, Matrix, Pirates. etc.

There was some talk about Peter Jackson remastering some of his older movies like Meet the Feebles or Bad Taste once this Hobbit stuff was completed.

...it looks like he's off to direct The Adventures of Tintin 2.

I loved the first two films and cannot wait to see the third. Fantastic films surrounding by whiny bitches... eh... fanboys!

I would like to see him give Meet The Feebles a kick up the backside.

I'm already in the cinema :D

Part of it is the same mentality that drove studios to devide the final books of Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games into two films.

The result with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was possibly the most poorly-paced films of the series. The first film dragged on ceaselessly, while the second film dragged out the Battle of Hogwarts so long that all the carnage just became boring after a while.

Not seen Breaking Dawn myself (I could just about stomach part 1 and 3 because they had something resembling a decent story when Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson weren't moping over one another), but my better half - a sworn Twilight fan - has told me that both films drag on and are the worst of the series.

And I expect that the same problem will befall Mockingjay.

But it ultimately doesn't matter that this practice produces poor-quality films - the drooling masses swarm in and pay money for it, so they'll keep doing it.

All I have to say is...

Kill the Men, kill the Elves, keep the gold for ourselves.

A really beautiful trailer ! I hope an epic battle at the Lonely Mountain and a true story of the clash between the White Council and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur :P

Well, I'm happy for The Hobbit, but still Lord of the Rings is another planet.

The first movie had a boring half-hour opening and a bit too much CGI on the Goblin caves (reminded of mine cart levels in videogames), but otherwise it was good. The second movie... less so. I just hope the eponymous battle will be glorious (though I personally doubt if it will surpass the Helm's Deep battle).

Yep, the series. :)

I'm already sharpened up for December. Not much of a 3D movies fan so I rarely go to cinema but every premier of The Hobbit movies was (and is) a no-brainer for me.

It does look pretty good. All in all I'd say it has a good change of becoming the best movie of the Hobbit trilogy.
Now, if only the first two movies would be condenced into one good movie.
Won't be happening as long as the old guard of the Tolkien family owns the rights. They pretty much hate the movies and are not willing to release rights to Silmarillion.

If you're still talkin about the AVGN.. he is :p and yes he uses only practical effects for his film. I can understand critics and long time enthusiasts for harping on CGI. It affects the film's indexicality immensly and has turned the whole essence of filmmaking upside down.

Probably because people have grown up with Props, Sets, and Make-Up for a century of Cinema that people form an attachment to it. CGI is still relatively a new thing. I predict in the next 50 years people will get over their hatred of CGI.

Motion Capture has pretty much replaced make-up. Davy Jones and Ceaser from Rise/Dawn of the Planet of the Apes are great examples.

I do think the advancement of CGI is both a good and a bad thing. On the other hand it allows movie directors to show us even more fanastical things, on the other it can make suspension more difficult, as the directors can show us too much, which can break the illusion of scary monsters. Often less is more, but still the movie makers often opt to drown the viewers in such spectacles, that it can turn a bit monotonious (Jackson is very often guilty in this one. He has a tendency to go overboard, which IMO can harm the movie, like it did with King Kong).

IMO King Kong is spectacle done right.

So Many animals.

The Tricertops, The Brachiosaurus, the Raptors, the water scorpions, the Giant fish monster, The Komodo Dragon like Lizards, the T-Rex, the insect pit,The Bats and of course Kong himself.

The movie is a setpiece masterpiece.