After “An unexpected journey” and “The Desolation of Smaug”, France 2 is broadcasting tonight the third and last part of the “Hobbit” trilogy by Peter Jackson, entitled “The Battle of the Five Armies”. A film that almost never saw the light of day …
In 2014, Peter Jackson put the finishing touches on the Hobbit trilogy, adapted from the novel by JRR Tolkien. Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage and Evangeline Lilly, among others, are back on camera. In this opus, as Thorin and the Dwarves have succeeded in recovering their kingdom and their treasure, the dragon Smaug unleashes his anger on the inhabitants of Lake-town. Now the Dwarves, Elves, Humans, but also Wrags and Orcs led by the Necromancer, covet the riches of the Lonely Mountain. The battle of the five armies is imminent and Bilbo is the only one who can unite his friends against the dark powers of Sauron.
If the Lord of the Rings saga adapts a three-volume novel, the story of the Hobbit, which constitutes its prequel, is only told in a single work. However, Peter Jackson decides to tell it in two films, respectively entitled An Unexpected Journey and History of a return trip. But the New Zealand filmmaker chooses to add a third part, in order to bring a conclusion worthy of the name to this epic tale. He’s obviously encouraged by Warner Bros., who is hoping the revenue will be as big as the Lord of the Rings.
Thus, the second film becomes The Desolation of Smaug and the last The Battle of the Five Armies, whose title corresponds better to the feature film according to Jackson, and refers to the piece of bravery of this episode. A choice that forced the team to go back to filming for two more months in 2013 to complete the last film, the two previous having been shot back to back between March 2011 and July 2012.
In the end, a winning bet for Peter Jackson since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brought in 956 million dollars in revenue worldwide.