Those hairy-footed hobbits must have gotten themselves some sweet new shoes because boy are they spendin’ money. According to recent reports, The Hobbit trilogy, director Peter Jackson’s followup to his highly successful adaptations of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is now costing Warner Brothers $561 million (or 676 million in New Zealand dollars). This figure doesn’t include the last two films’ current production states, which will involve two more months of post production for this December’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and even more time for the post production of 2014’s The Hobbit: There and Back Again. 

Box Office Mojo and Guinness World Records are reporting that the combined production of all three films is one of the most expensive total productions in film history. The Hobbit trilogy has usurped the title from the combined production of the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films which cost an estimated $450 million to $525 million in total. This is also nearly twice as much as the total production of the previous Rings trilogy, which cost $281 million. Much of this money is going towards Jackson’s decision to shoot the films both in 3D and at 48 frames per second instead of the usual 24.

While last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey received mixed reception, I was personally a big fan. It felt like a solid start to what could be a promising second trilogy. It was also a big step up for Jackson after overlong and sloppy efforts like his remake of King Kong and The Lovely Bones. Plus, the most recent trailer for The Desolation of Smaug has me extremely excited, particularly for Eggs Benedict Cumerbund  Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug the Dragon.

Mind you, this doesn’t mean I lack any sort of trepidation about the next two Hobbit films. I had the same issues with the 48 frames per second technology that several other people did and the fact that they’ll be done with the story of The Hobbit in the first two films has me worried about what the third film will pull. It makes me wonder if Peter Jackson may be milking this a bit too far and might be putting so much money in the visuals to distract for a potential lack in story. Then again, An Unexpected Journey managed to make $1 billion worldwide, so I doubt Mr. Jackson will be taking much advice from me on how his films should be done… much in the same way he didn’t take much advice from anyone about The Lovely Bones! Aw snap! Take that, highly acclaimed and successful filmmaker! That’ll show your Oscar-winning ass!

Via Variety