When Han Solo muttered “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” in Star Wars, it became a significant quote in the eyes of the franchise’s fans especially when writer/director George Lucas chose to make a prequel trilogy with mixed results.

Now it is looking like the turn of another franchise to come full circle after Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson announced that his upcoming two-part prequel The Hobbit will now be extended to a third film thus making it a trilogy.

In a Facebook post, Jackson revealed that a third film would be made after wrapping up filming for the other two films; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2013) and also explained about could be added to the new story.

“It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran Walsh, Phil Boyens and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second.

We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes’.

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.”

The new film is likely to be released in summer 2014 which will please most Lord of the Rings fans. But while I absolutely adore the fantasy series, I am not exactly head-over-heels about this news but there are more die-hard fans who feel that The Hobbit’s story is too small to make into two films never mind a trilogy!

The crucial aspect is whether the upcoming first film can live up to the original films acclaim but should it fail then a third film would surely be unnecessary. Sounds like Mr Jackson has been getting ideas off Mr Lucas, which isn’t always a good thing….