It’s Tolkien week and part of the celebration leading up to “Hobbit Day” on Saturday included the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, part one in the coming trilogy of films directed by Peter Jackson and starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Evangeline Lilly, Andy Serkis and Richard Armitage.
The story follows Bilbo Baggins (Freeman), who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (McKellen), Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage).
Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs 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 (Serkis). Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity 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 trailer is directly below and just skimming through it looking for a screen capture to use above I thought it looked rather impressive even though it still feels like “more Lord of the Rings“. My only hope is that these Hobbit films are able to distinguish themselves from the Lord of the Rings trilogy and that the story won’t wear thin over the course of three films. My fingers are crossed there is enough story to keep three films together and create an impressive six film collective. The path to discovery begins December 14.
If you didn’t see the 16 new pictures I added recently, you can give them a peek right here once you’re done watching the trailer.
