Sir Peter Jackson is reportedly considering adding a sixth film to his Lord of the Rings film franchise by splitting The Hobbit into three parts.
Jackson has already divided JRR Tolkien's Rings prequel novel into two movies - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is released on December 14, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, which is out next year.
But Jackson let slip plans for a potential Hobbit trilogy at pop culture expo Comic Con in San Diego, California, this week, which could see the blockbuster fantasy series extend its stay in Wellington where production has been based.
"We have certainly been talking to the studio about some of the material we can't film, and we've been asking them so we can do a bit more filming next year,'' Jackson told movie website HitFix.
''I don't know what would come of that, whether it'd be extended editions or whatnot. But those discussions are ongoing.
"There's so much good stuff in the appendices that we haven't been able to squeeze into these movies."
The Lord of the Rings Appendices were published at the end of The Return of the King novel and contain detailed back stories about Middle-earth.
Splitting a single book into multiple movies has become common in recent years with the final Harry Potter and Twilight novels also given the two-part treatment.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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