New Line has announced the release dates for the two films which will comprise the new adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
The films will be titled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, and will hit theaters on 14 December 2012 and 13 December 2013 respectively.
The productions are being shot, in New Zealand again, and post-produced concurrently, so there is no chance that the second film won’t make it out, even if the first one has a mysteriously poor box-office take.
They’re being shot in digital 3D, so our 3D glasses purchases will not be wasted.
If you’re somehow not familiar with The Hobbit, it’s the story of how Bilbo found The One Ring, while adventuring with a band of dwarves who are attempting to free their kingdom, Erebor, from the tyranny of the dragon Smaug.
Bilbo, due to his size and agility, becomes instrumental to the success of the Dwarves’ quest. It wasn’t originally a prequel to Lord of the Rings, as it was written first, but the film is getting the prequel treatment, with small details (like Orlando Bloom) being inserted with, hopefully, some finesse.
The accompanying press release also gives us a full breakdown of the cast and crew.
“Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Martin Freeman, who just won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the BBC series Sherlock, takes on the central role of Bilbo Baggins. Also reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; and Andy Serkis as Gollum.
“The ensemble cast also includes Richard Armitage, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas and Aidan Turner.
“The screenplays for The Hobbit films are by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson. Jackson is also producing the films, together with Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham. The executive producers are Ken Kamins and Zane Weiner, with Philippa Boyens serving as co-producer.”
Keep an eye on TGDaily for the next few weeks as Jackson will be answering fan questions on his Facebook page, and we will have a lot more Hobbit news to share.
