Peter Jackson: We’ve Finished Filming ‘The Hobbit’ Sequels

“It’s a wrap!” Peter Jackson has officially wrapped up filming for The Hobbit trilogy in New Zealand.

The director has kept his Hobbit fans up to date via his Facebook page by sharing pictures on set of the final film and updates for the trilogy. Jackson posted pictures of crew members, dwarves and actor Martin Freeman, who plays hobbit Bilbo Baggins. He also posted pictures of Mr. Smudge, Jackson’s cat, along with the caption “A long day. A great day. Thank you all for being part of it! Now for some sleep!”

The film The Hobbit, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit, is the prequel to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first film in the trilogy, opened to theaters in December 2012 and brought in $1 billion in box-office receipts worldwide. The film follows the quest of hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, and a group of dwarves that he tries to help regain their wealth and stature from the dragon Smaug.

With filming officially wrapped up this summer, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, will be released in December 2013, and the final film The Hobbit: There And Back Again will be released in December 2014.

Peter Jackson’s Facebook Post:
“The last shot.  Big monitors, main unit. Small screens bottom right, splinter. We’re neck and neck … Shooting our final shots at the same time. 10.32pm. 4 or 5 takes so far. No, wait … Done! While I was typing this, we shot more takes and finished! Richard was fantastic. Splinter almost done. Minutes away. Smiles and happiness… And sadness. Yikes, very sad.”

Peter Jackson’s Facebook Post:
“A 20 hour day … 15 years of Tolkien … 771 days of shooting … And we arrive home exhausted, to a house full of teenagers! It’s going to be a long night!”

Peter Jackson’s Facebook Post:
“Back with Mr Smudge. A long day. A great day. Thank you all for being part of it! Now for some sleep!”