The final installment of “The Hobbit” doesn’t just mark the conclusion of Bilbo Baggins’ journey on the big screen. It’s also the end of a massively successful film franchise that’s earned New Line and Warner Bros. nearly $5 billion, going all the way back to the 2001 release of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Filmmaker Peter Jackson, who crafted all six of the films in his native New Zealand, was similarly adamant that he was finished adapting J.R.R. Tolkien, though he would “never say never” to a Middle-earth homecoming. The director said in a recent interview in London, “If we wanted to — and I don’t know whether I would want to or not — it’s not a question I need to worry about. Warner Bros. has the rights to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit,’ and they don’t have the rights to anything else.”
