'Hobbit' hits heading back into theaters

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Extended editions of each installment of The Hobbit trilogy will screen in U.S. movie theaters starting this week.

An Unexpected Journey, which debuted in 2012, will be shown Monday night while its 2013 sequel, The Desolation of Smaug will screen Wednesday and last year's The Battle of the Five Armies is scheduled to play on Oct. 13.

The blockbusters will feature a special introduction by director Peter Jackson. Theater and ticket information can be found at FathomEvents.com

Starring Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen and Evangeline Lilly, the films are based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy novel The Hobbit. The movies are also prequels to Jackson's ground-breaking Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was also inspired by Tolkien's works.