How many The Hobbit films did Peter Jackson direct?

Peter Jackson directed three The Hobbit films: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies.

The trilogy was adapted from J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel The Hobbit, with additional material drawn from the appendices to The Lord of the Rings. The films were released from 2012 to 2014 and follow Bilbo Baggins as he joins Thorin Oakenshield and the Dwarves on their quest to reclaim Erebor from Smaug.

The project was initially planned as two films. Guillermo del Toro was originally attached to direct, but he left the production, and Jackson took over. The story was then expanded into a trilogy. That is why the answer is three, even though the films are based primarily on a single relatively short Tolkien novel. The Hobbit trilogy acts as a prequel to Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films.