Well, a summer "Hobbit" probably would've been kind of weird anyway.

The three installments of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" will now completely follow the release format of a certain other Middle-earth trilogy as the third and final chapter, "The Hobbit: There and Back Again," has been pushed back to Dec. 17, 2014, according to Deadline.

"There and Back Again" was originally scheduled for July 18, 2014, which would've made it the first Tolkien "summer movie" — and put it in direct competition with "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

Hobbits aren't afraid of no mutants, so the real reason for the delay is probably because, well, just as Hobbit journeys take a long time, so too do Hobbit movies.

Having all three "Hobbit" movies released over three consecutive Decembers makes the fantasy epic seem all the more like a companion piece to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the parts of which were released in December 2001, 2002 and 2003.

The first film, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," has pulled in a box office take of $300.9 million domestic and $979.9 million worldwide since it hit theaters on Dec. 14, 2012. It will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 19.

The second installment, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," will open Dec. 13, 2013.