Peter Jackson directed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a 2012 epic high fantasy adventure movie. It’s the first of three films based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel The Hobbit. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) follow, serving as a prequel to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
The screenplay for the movie was written by Jackson, his longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro, who was set to direct the film before quitting it in 2010. The plot takes place sixty years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and parts of the movie are derived from Tolkien’s The Return of the King’s appendices.
An Unexpected Journey premiered in New Zealand on November 28, 2012, and was released internationally on December 12, 2012, over nine years after The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The movie grossed over $1.017 billion at the box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing picture of 2012, surpassing both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers theoretically.
The movie was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, despite receiving mixed reviews from reviewers. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards in the United Kingdom.
