Peter Jackson's delayed "Hobbit" films get release dates, titles

(CBS/AP) After a few roadblocks, Peter Jackson's two-film adaption of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel "The Hobbit" has been given official titles and release dates.

The two prequels of Jackson's Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy will be called "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again." The first will be released Dec. 14, 2012, and the sequel is slated for a Dec. 13, 2013 release.

The films have suffered repeated delays over studio funding problems, a threatened actors' boycott and ulcer surgery for Jackson. Shot consecutively, they began filming in March in New Zealand.

Martin Freeman will take on the title role as Bilbo Baggins and will star alongside Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom.