The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Can you skip The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?

Yes, on a first watch. It is self-contained, and nothing in the main Middle-earth story depends on it. Come back to it later if you want more. Show only the Middle-earth essentials.

Middle-earth guides

• LOTR orderTwo trilogies, an anime prequel and a streaming series. The order is short; the two real questions are where The Hobbit goes and which cuts to watch.

Where it sits in the Middle-earth order

Release order

#5 of 9

Chronological order

#5 of 9

Released

13 December 2013

In-universe era

The Third Age: The Quest for Erebor

More from The Hobbit

• 04The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey2012
• 06The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies2014

More like Middle-earth

• Harry PotterThe two fantasy sagas that defined the 2000s blockbuster, both adapted from books people grew up on.
• Star WarsHero's-journey epics with a clean good and evil: and prequel trilogies that still divide people.
• AvatarVast invented worlds with their own languages, from directors who gave them a decade each.