MUMBAI: Warner Bros’ three Hobbit films have racked up over half a billion dollars in production costs, reports the AP, citing Kiwi financial filings that say Peter Jackson has spent $676 million New Zealand dollars ($561 million) so far on his LOTR follow-ups.

But this is just the total so far as of 31 March and doesn’t include post-March spending, post-production expenses, and marketing costs. WB has additionally enjoyed $98 million worth of New Zealand tax incentives for shooting in the area. The first of the Hobbit pics, An Unexpected Journey, grossed over $1 billion worldwide after debuting last December.

Sequel The Desolation Of Smaug is set to follow with a 14 December, 2013 release followed by There And Back Again on 17 December, 2014.