<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Plans to add a third movie to the Hobbit series are gathering momentum, it has been reported. Filmmaker Peter Jackson has split JRR Tolkien&amp;#039;s source material into two films: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again. Sources have told the Los Angeles Times that Jackson and the studio are now seriously considering a third film.  Jackson has reportedly decided that there is enough unexplored material in the book - and the appendices to the Lord of the Rings series - for a third movie, and New Line Cinema are said to be keen to see The Hobbit expanded into a trilogy. It has been claimed that negotiations are now underway with cast and crew members in order to get them on board. Lead actor Martin Freeman, for example, is committed to a third series of Sherlock, which is due to be shot over four months in early 2013. Freeman is one of the actors believed to have been in talks in recent weeks.  Jackson originally entertained the idea of a third movie at Comic-Con earlier this month, saying that he had been asking the studio about doing &amp;quot;a bit more filming next year&amp;quot;. However, he hinted that the extra filming could result in extended editions of the two planned movies. Sources additionally told The Hollywood Reporter that if a third movie does go ahead, around two months of pick-up filming are envisioned in New Zealand during summer 2013.  There are also issues around the rights to The Hobbit which would require further negotiation. Neither Jackson nor Toby Emmerich, the president of New Line, have responded to the reports. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released on December 14, 2012, with The Hobbit: There and Back Again to follow in December 2013. Photo gallery - &amp;#039;The Hobbit&amp;#039; movies:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/the-hobbit/news/a395087/hobbit-filmmakers-in-talks-with-warner-bros-cast-for-third-movie/>