Is everybody happy? Director Peter Jackson said that given the richness of the story, he decided after wrapping up shooting recently in New Zealand that what was originally planned as two films would now be a trilogy. The studios behind the venture — New Line, MGM and Warner Bros — said fine. More money for them.

“The Hobbit,” written by JRR Tolkien, is the prequel to the British author’s epic fantasy “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson made into three Oscar-winning films about 10 years ago.

A spokesman for New Line said the third Hobbit film would be released in the summer of 2014. The first two Hobbit movies have already been announced for release in December 2012 and December 2013.

Jackson on his Facebook page:

“It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made.

“We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance.”

“The Lord of the Rings” consisted of three parts totalling 1,008 pages, which lent itself to adaptation into three separate films. “The Hobbit” is 310 pages, which may require some new scenes.