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Q: This has been annoying me for a while: How could they make "The Hobbit" into three films when the whole "Lord of the Rings" trilogy of books also only got three films?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

Allow me to turn that around on you: How could they contain the whole, complicated story of "The Lord of the Rings" in just three films when it required three films just to tell "The Hobbit" properly? (That's likely director Peter Jackson's position on the matter, as he made "The Lord of the Rings" films between 2001 and 2003 and later returned to the world of author J.R.R. Tolkien for "The Hobbit" in 2012.)

The default plan was to stick to the one-book, one-movie formula, but he soon stated that he needed a second "Hobbit" film to show all the things alluded to in the book (such as what Gandalf — played in the films by the X-Men franchise's Sir Ian McKellan — was up to). But having made the two films, he realized that there was still more story to tell.

"We know creatively how compelling and engaging the story can be," Jackson said in a 2012 statement, "and ... we know how much of the tale ... would remain untold if we did not fully realize this complex and wonderful adventure."

In the same statement, he explained that some of that extra story would come from "the appendices of 'The Lord of the Rings.'" That also goes some way to answering your question.

 

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