Peter Jackson’s long-awaited return to Middle-earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is just a few months away from its big screen release, starting the first of what is now officially set to be a trilogy.
We caught a few small glimpses of new footage in an alternate trailer at the start of the month, and now a new batch of images and promo stills have surfaced online, giving us a look at Bilbo, Gandalf, the dwarves, and a handful of wonderfully familiar faces.
“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.”
Martin Freeman takes the lead as the young Bilbo Baggins, with a host of new and old faces alike joining him along his journey, headed up by Andy Serkis, Stephen Fry, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released in 3D and IMAX 3D on 14th December in the US and UK, and naturally it’s expected to set the box office alight. We’ve still got a few more months to go, so enjoy these new images in the meantime, and as usual, you can click to enlarge.
