New Line and Warner Bros. have posted a pair of television spots for the first film in Peter Jackson’s upcoming Hobbit trilogy.
The Hobbit tells the story that comes before The Lord of the Rings. In some ways, TheLord 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 lots of material to the original Hobbit story in a set of documents now called ‘the appendices’. It’s this modified, and greatly expanded version of the story that Jackson is adapting, using the same shooting locations, styles, and some of the same actors from his adaptation of the LOTR trilogy.
Originally intended to be two films, it has been split into a trilogy all its own. The first film is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and it 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 new spots are mostly re-cut from the trailers and teasers we’ve already seen, but they both have sweet new clips of Bilbo’s encounter with the trolls, whom he must outsmart, and the first one also boasts some footage of Wargs and other monsters:
Here’s the full theatrical trailer:
An Unexpected Journey looks every bit as excellent as The Lord of the Rings films, which is really no surprise considering Peter Jackson is at the helm again. The only truly disappointing thing about the films is just how long we’re going to have to wait to see the whole thing; even longer now that there is a third film coming. Luckily, it’ll only be about six-months between the second and third, rather than the year between the first two.
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.
