The week ahead: 'The Hobbit,' 'Zero Dark Thirty,' 'Les Misérables' and more

The first of "The Hobbit" movie trilogy, the story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and the big-screen version of the stage musical "Les Misérables" are three of the movies that premiere on demand from March 18 to March 24, 2013. (Check with your cable or satellite provider for a lineup of on-demand channels on your system.)

Here is a list of those movies and their on-demand premiere dates:

March 19, 2013: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (Same day as DVD, weeks before Netflix and Redbox releases; available in 3-D) Rated PG-13.

From Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first of a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece novel "The Hobbit," by J.R.R. Tolkien. The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman), who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" trailer"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" trailer

For more info: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" website

March 19, 2013: "Zero Dark Thirty" (Same day as DVD) Rated R.

For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. "Zero Dark Thirty" reunites the Oscar-winning team of director/producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer/producer Mark Boal ("The Hurt Locker") for the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man. "Zero Dark Thirty" was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress (for Jessica Chastain), and ultimately won an Oscar for Best Sound Editing.

For more info: "Zero Dark Thirty" website

March 19, 2013: "A Royal Affair" (Same day as DVD) Rated R.

"A Royal Affair" is an 18th century historical drama starring Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, screenwriter of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," the film is an epic romance about the love triangle between a German doctor, the queen of Denmark, and her deranged king. "A Royal Affair" (which is in Danish with English subtitles) received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film.

For more info: "A Royal Affair" website

March 19, 2013: "Rust and Bone" (Same day as DVD) Rated R.

In "Rust and Bone" (in French with English subtitles), Oscar winner Marion Cotillard plays a whale trainer named Stéphanie who loses her legs in a freak accident while on the job. She strikes up an unlikely friendship with a single father named Alain (played by Matthias Schoenaerts), a drifter who works as a nightclub bouncer but does street kick boxing for extra money. It's not long before Stéphanie and Alain's relationship turns into a romance.

For more info: "Rust and Bone" website

March 19, 2013: "True Nature" (Months after DVD release)

The Pascal family has it all — wealth, power, privilege — but their lives change forever when their daughter Marianne (played by Marianne Porter) disappears one night while running. She mysteriously returns a year later with no memory of what happened. Haunted by nightmares and strange visions that encroach upon her waking hours, Marianne struggles to resume normal life. The “picture-perfect” world the family built starts to unravel as she gets closer to discovering that truth lies somewhere between life and death.

For more info: "True Nature" website

March 21, 2013: "Thale" (Before theatrical release)

"Thale" (in Norwegian with English subtitles) is a horror thriller. Two crime-scene cleaners discover a mythical, tailed female creature in a concealed cellar. She never utters a word, unable to tell her story, but the pieces of the puzzle soon come together: She's been held captive for decades for reasons soon to surface.

For more info: "Thale" website

March 22, 2013: "Les Misérables" (Same day as DVD, weeks before Netflix and Redbox releases) Rated PG-13.

"Les Misérables," set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, is the motion-picture adaptation of the beloved global stage sensation. Helmed by Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech"), "Les Misérables" stars Hugh Jackman, Oscar winner Russell Crowe, Oscar winner Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. "Les Misérables" tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption — a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. "Les Misérables" was nominated for eight Oscars and won three: Best Supporting Actress (for Hathaway), Best Sound Mixing and Best Makeup and Hair Styling.

For more info: "Les Misérables" website

March 22, 2013: "This Is 40" (Same day as DVD, weeks before Netflix and Redbox releases) Rated R and Unrated versions.

"This Is 40" (written and directed by Judd Apatow) is a spinoff to the movie "Knocked Up." In the comedy "This Is 40," married couple Pete and Debbie (played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann) are coping with financial stresses, turning 40, discontent in their relationship and conflicts over how they parent their two daughters.

For more info: "This Is 40" website

March 22, 2013: "The Collection" (Four days before DVD release) Rated R.

In this horror film, Emma Fitzpatrick plays a young woman named Elena, whose friends take her to a secret party at an undisclosed location. She becomes the latest victim of The Collector, a psychopathic killer who kidnaps and transports her to an abandoned hotel he’s transformed into his own private maze of torture and death. Upon learning of his daughter’s disappearance, Elena’s wealthy father (Christopher McDonald) hires a group of mercenaries to retrieve her from the vicious grips of The Collector.

For more info: "The Collection" website

March 22, 2013: "On the Road" (Same day as theatrical release) Rated R.

"On the Road" (based on the Jack Kerouac novel of the same name) tells the provocative story of Sal Paradise (played by Sam Riley), a young writer whose life is shaken and ultimately redefined by the arrival of Dean Moriarty (played by Garrett Hedlund), a free-spirited, fearless, fast-talking seducer, and Dean's underage girlfriend-turned-wife Marylou (Kristen Stewart). Together, Sal and Dean travel cross-country in a quest for freedom from the conformity and conservatism engulfing them, in search of the unknown, themselves and the pursuit of "it." The book and film's characters are based on real people: Sal Paradise is Kerouac, Dean Moriarty is Jack Cassady and Carlo Marx (played by Tom Sturridge) is Allen Ginsberg.

For more info: "On the Road" website