Source: http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/the-hobbit-going-for-a-trilogy-its-possi...

In the article above, Peter Jackson hints that he's got enough material to adapt the book into three films (using the lengthy appendices from The Return of the King) - but I'm betting that *if* it happens, it'll be as much because of a mandate by New Line to throttle as much profit out of the work as possible as anything else. It might very well turn out to be awesome (Gandalf's investigation and confrontation with the Necromancer's likely going to be intense), but turning The Hobbit into three films is definitely breakdancing on thin ice (even for filmmakers as talented as Peter Jackson and his crew), as far the overall adaptation of the story goes. :/