The Hobbit Trilogy has cost $561m so far

[dropcap]P[/dropcap]eter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy has a budget that is nearly double that of his Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Lord of the Rings series cost $281m to produce, while the Hobbit series has cost $561m to produce so far.

This news shows that the studios behind the Hobbit films are confident they can turn a nice profit with the series. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey made a whopping one billion dollars at the box-office when it was released; it may have cost a lot to produce but it made a very hefty profit, and the sequels will no doubt also be very popular. It’s also worth bearing in mind that production costs have increased since 1999, which is when production on The Lord of the Rings began. Jackson’s decision to shoot the Hobbit films in both 3D and 48 frames per second (instead of the normal 24 frames) has added to the expense too.

It’s impressive how Peter Jackson has managed to turn a 350 page children’s book into an epic saga; he has tried to flesh out some aspects of the story that didn’t get much priority in the book. This will give fans a chance to learn more about certain characters and events in Middle Earth, which is all good. Stretching one book into a film trilogy may require some padding though, which could weaken the films – hopefully that won’t happen but time will tell…