The Hobbit 3 release date pushed back to December 2014

Hairy moment: Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'

The release date of the third instalment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy has been pushed back from 18 July 2014 to 17 December 2014.

The final film in the franchise which kicked off with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in December, has been pushed back so as not to clash with the release of X-Men: Days Of Future Past which is chalked up for release on 17 July next year.

The second of the Hobbit films, based on JRR Tolkein's prequel to Lord Of The Rings, titled The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, will be released on 13 December 2013.