The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a 2013 British-New Zealand epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is the second installment of a three-part film adaptation based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was preceded by An Unexpected Journey (2012) and will conclude with There and Back Again (2014), and together they will act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.