TNT picks up 'The Desolation of Smaug' TV rights

TNT has picked up the television rights for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which will premiere on the network in 2016.

According to Variety, the cable network didn't want anyone else to show any part of The Hobbit after picking up the first film An Unexpected Journey, which will hit TVs on TNT starting in 2015.

The network previously has picked up the TV rights for the original Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"TNT has been the primary television home to Tolkien's Middle Earth for nearly a decade," Michael Wright, TNT's president, said, reports Deadline. "We're proud to continue our association with these extraordinary and enormously popular epics with the acquisition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug."

The second film in The Hobbit trilogy managed to stay atop the box office this past weekend after raking in $31.5 million in its second week.

The Peter Jackson directed tale has now grossed $127.5 million domestically, which is disappointing after the 2012 first film managed a much higher $150 million during the same time frame.

image: Warner Bros.

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