It’s amazing to think another cycle of Lord of the Rings films is about to begin again.
Indeed, every self-respecting geek knows the first installment of the Hobbit, subtitled An Unexpected Journey, is hitting theaters on December 14.
Yes, the once a two-parter is now a trilogy, with the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug due on December 13, 2013, and the third one, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, timed for July 18, 2014.
Now here’s another date you should mark down on your calendar, September 19, this Wednesday, because that’s when the new trailer for The Hobbit will debut.
The announcement was made by none other than Peter Jackson, who took to his Facebook page, saying:
”Hello, and welcome to the beginning of what’s going to be a very interesting week. This is Tolkien week, there are celebrations world-wide to mark the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit.
”And don’t forget that the 22nd of September is also Bilbo and Frodo’s combined birthday party. Our contribution to these celebrations is to debut our new trailer for The Hobbit on the 19th. We’re also going to share some special content with you, the fans. It’s going to be an exciting week.”
Frankly, I think it’s remarkable to think that The Hobbit is now celebrating its 75th birthday. With the Lord of the Rings series, J.R.R. Tolkien really launched an incredible, epic story that’s inspired so many generations, a huge good vs. evil adventure that laid the groundwork for so many other future adventures, like the Star Wars series.
It’s also been a real déjà vu experience for Peter and the gang, especially the returning cast members Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Orlando Bloom, and of course, Andy Serkis. (You can’t ever forget Gollum, can you my precious?)
Weaving is about to star in another big epic, Cloud Atlas, and as he confirmed to Vulture, he didn’t have to think twice about returning to Middle Earth.
”It’s the same world, the same director,” Weaving said. “I remember in New Zealand, saying to Peter, ‘Oh well, I guess we’ll see you on The Hobbit.’ And he said, ‘No, no, I’m not doing The Hobbit.’ I said, ‘Of course you will.’ And you know he didn’t want to do it initially – Guillermo Del Toro was directing it. [Peter] ended up doing it. It seemed like the right thing to go back and revisit.”
