In an interview with Deadline during Comic-Con, Peter Jackson discussed The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies from the very beginning of it all about 18 or so years ago all the way to the present with a tidbit that the extended edition of Desolation of Smaug will have 25 minutes of added footage. Below are key highlights but I recommend reading the entire interview including how Jackson got to walk the convention floor dressed as an evil jester.

DEADLINE: Six movies and almost two decades later, here we are at the end. James Cameron seems ready to play in the Avatar sandbox forever, and he can because he created it. You brought to life JRR Tolkien’s creation. It’s his, but haven’t you earned the right to stake your own creative residence claim, and keep telling stories from Middle Earth, even original stories? It’s a world many people will be sad to see you leave.
JACKSON: I don’t think that legally we’ve earned that right. Because of Tolkien’s rights, that is unfortunately an impossibility. The reality today is, the professor JRR Tolkien sold the rights to both The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings when he was an old man in his late 60s. They both went to UA. This was after The Beatles went after them…

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SDCC: Peter Jackson Interview On Beginning of His Middle-Earth Journey. There are any SDCC: Peter Jackson Interview On Beginning of His Middle-Earth Journey in here.