Peter Jackson to shoot "The Hobbit" trilogy

 LOS ANGELES, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Many "Hobbit" fans were excited or worried when Peter Jackson announced Monday that he will stretch the originally planned two-part adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic¹ fantasy-adventure "The Hobbit" into a trilogy, something unexpected for the public.

"On behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of 'The Hobbit' films, I'd like to announce that two films will become three," Jackson announced on his Facebook page.

"The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth," the director and producer of the trilogy said.

Officials with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema also confirmed the move.

The new adaptation, which is based on Tolkien's 1937 children's book "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" will be produced as a prequel trilogy to Jackson's Academy Award-winning epic trilogy " The Lord of the Rings", which is also based on a Tolkien novel.

The Middle-earth events contained in the English writer's work were authored to take place 60 years earlier than the detailed² adventure depicted³ in "The Lord of the Rings".

"Can't wait to see them all!" Rusdy Krisman commented on Jackson's Facebook account. "Could you pls release all these movies in the same year so I don't need to wait long?"

"This is worrying," Jason Atlas⁴ Anfang said. "As someone just said, making the Hobbit into two films instead of one four-hour film was a stretch, but now a third? It seems greedy and inappropriate for the material."

The first film in the new trilogy, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", is scheduled for release on Dec.14. The second film is slated⁵ to hit theaters on Dec.13, 2013 while the third is expected to hit the screen in summer 2014.

Many of the familiar cast members of "The Lord of the Rings" will reprise their roles in the new project. Ian McKellen will act in his earlier role of Gandalf the Grey, while Martin Freeman will play Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage be featured as Thorin Oakenshield. Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm and Christopher Lee will also appear in the project.

All three films will be released in both 3D and 2D, according to the studios.

1 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

4 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

5 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。