New Line has posted a television spot for the first film in Peter Jackson’s upcoming Hobbit trilogy.
The Hobbit tells the story that precedes The Lord of the Rings. In some ways, The Lord of the Rings is a sequel to The Hobbit, but from another perspective, The Hobbit is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, as the original author J.R.R. Tolkien added more material to the original Hobbit story in a set of documents now known as ‘the appendices.’
It’s this modified, and greatly expanded version of the story that veteran genre director Peter Jackson is adapting, using the same shooting locations, styles, and some of the same actors from his adaptation of the LOTR trilogy.
The real story of The Hobbit centers around the villain Smaug, a dragon who has run the dwarves from their ancestral home. The new spot offers us a brief glimpse of Jackosn’s version of Smaug for the very first time:
As I mentioned it is only a brief glimpse of the dragon, hardly enough to make an opinion of the effects in use. Of course, Smaug doesn’t become a very active character in the book until the end. Perhaps in this trilogy of films, we’ll get more from him sooner. I have no doubt the dragon visuals will be just as amazing as everything else that Jackson has done in Middle Earth.
A few seconds now need to be added to the uber-trailer…
Originally intended to be two films, The Hobbit has been split into a trilogy all its own. The first movie is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which will cover the events of the book from Bilbo’s introduction to Gandalf in Bag End to Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum and The One Ring.
The official synopsis for the film is thus:
The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.
Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever… Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities… A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits theaters Dec 14 , 2012. The follow up film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, follows on Dec 13, 2013. The third and final Hobbit film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again hits on July 18, 2014.
