It seems that the third instalment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy could be set for a title change, with TheOneRing reporting that New Line Cinema has registered a new title The Hobbit: Into the Fire, which could replace The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

It should be noted that at this point, there’s little more evidence to suggest that the closing chapter of Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings prequel will be renamed, and of course Into the Fire could be reserved for an entirely unrelated project, such as a video game tie-in.

The Hobbit: There and Back Again – or whatever it ends up called – is set for release on December 17th, with a cast that includes Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Hugo Weaving and Evangeline Lilly.