We know that The Hobbit, Peter Jackson’s upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel movies have now officially been split into three films (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: There And Back Again), with one being released every holiday season for the next three years, and have just got a look at the first film in the series, courtesy of a recently released trailer (now available to view below).
Adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic book of the same name, The Hobbit follows the titular halfling Bilbo Baggins (this time played by The Pirates! star Martin Freeman – though former Bilbo Ian Holm will also pop up as the elder version of the character) as he gets swept up into a world of adventure involving a band of angry dwarves, the world’s most famous and iconic wizard, Gandalf (once again played by Ian McKellen), and not only his trio of trolls, but a huge dragon named Smaug, and even a famous encounter with the creature known as Gollum (again played by Andy Serkis).
With the first movie in the new trilogy set to be lighter in tone than the following installments, and setting the scene for what’s to follow, An Unexpected Journey will see Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves, setting off for lonely Mountain in search of treasure, in the film which co-stars Richard Armitage (Strike Back), Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse), Evangeline Lilly (Real Steel), Luke Evans (Immortals), Lee Pace (A Single Man), and Billy Connolly (Brave), alongside familiar faces Elijah Wood (Frodo), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Christopher Lee (Saurman), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), and Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), when it’s released on December 14th in both the US and UK.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will then be released on December 13th 2013 (in the US and UK), and The Hobbit: There And Back Again will make its official release date the following year, in an uncharacteristic summer slot, on July 18th 2014 (in the US and UK).
