The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. 

(Warning: some spoilers below for those who haven’t read The Hobbit.)

In case you hadn’t heard, Peter Jackson and Company recently decided to make a third movie from The Hobbit. The final film would be released in the summer of 2014, about six months after the second movie was out (and the first summer release for a Jackson-Tolkien cinema epic).

The original titles when only two films were planned were The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again. So the question arose: what would the additional movie be called? Would the second movie be renamed, since There and Back Again made the most sense for the conclusion? Now we know.

The name makes sense, and I like it. It sounds as if the second movie will end with the death of Smaug at Laketown, leaving the Battle of Five Armies for the third film. Jackson has said he will be filling out the story with elements culled from the 125+ pages of background and bridging details from the Appendices in The Lord of the Rings, as well as scenes from Jackson’s and his collaborators’ imaginations. We know there’s a scene where the tombs of the Nazgul are found empty, and it’s a safe bet we’ll see Galadriel and her Elvish army take on Dol Guldur, the fortress where Sauron first manifests himself. There are going to be scenes of the White Council in action, and other things that were either only hinted at or entirely glossed over in the book.

December is fast approaching. I, for one, can’t wait.

Head over to The Hollywood Reporter for the full article.