The Hobbit: There And Back Again Delayed Until Winter 2014

The Hobbit: There and Back Again

, the third part of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy, will be pushed back to a December 17, 2014 release, five months later than its planned July release, reports Deadline. While the first Hobbit film came out in the winter of 2012, as will The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug this year, The Hobbit: There and Back Again were scheduled to be summer tentpole releases for Warner Bros. That date set it up for potential box office trouble as it would be competing with X-Men: Days of Future Past as both films would open on the same day. Hercules starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was also just announced as opening the next week. A December release also, arguably, boosts the film's chances at an Academy Award. While Jackson's Lord of the Rings films didn't generally fare all that impressively at the Oscars, he was recognized with a Best Picture trophy for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the third and final installment of the series.