"The Hobbit 3" or " The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," the final movie in the "Hobbit" trilogy, has announced that it will be released on December 17th, 2014 in the U.S.

The fantasy adventure film is directed by Peter Jackson and screenwritten by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro. J.R.R Tolkein, obviously, wrote the book it is based on. " The Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies," is being produced by New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and WingNut Films; and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. 

At first the last "Hobbit" movie was to be called "There and Back Again," but according to Jackson's released a Facebook post explaining that the new name of the film was changed to "The Battle of the Five Armies." His Facebook post reads:

"Inside Information...

Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo's own, with hidden paths revealing their secrets to us as we've gone along. "There and Back Again" felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo's arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced-after all, Bilbo has already arrived "there" in the "Desolation of Smaug".

When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.

And so: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" it is.

As Professor Tolkien intended, "There and Back Again" encompasses Bilbo's entire adventure, so don't be surprised if you see it used on a future box-set of all three movies.

Before then however, we have a film to finish, and much to share with you. It's been a nice quiet time for us-Jabez and I happily editing away in a dark cave in Wellington-but those halcyon days are quickly coming to an end. It will soon be time to step into the light. Expect to see and hear much about The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in the coming months.

And there's also The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Cut, which we're in the process of finishing, with over 25 mins of new scenes, all scored with original music composed by Howard Shore.

It'll be a fun year!"

Today Jackson Updated his Facebook again today, giving information about the status of the trailer for the movie.

"Many of you asked about the Hobbit Trailer.

So, yes - there will be a Hobbit Trailer. But like the previous two years, it's not going to be released until around Oct. The complex VFX work required to produce the battle shots we're all wanting to see are simply not far enough along yet.

However... yesterday I finished work on a Teaser Trailer and that has just been delivered to Warner Bros. So no doubt this Teaser Trailer will be making it's way into the world sometime soon..."

Originally only two "Hobbit" films were planned, but a third was added after Jackson borrowed characters from the "Lord of the Rings" franchise and added some original story. 

The first 'Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012), grossed a staggering $1 billion worldwide. The sequel "The Desolation of Smaug" (2013) was a bit less successful, bringing in $953 million worldwide.