The Hobbit

Ooooo... I just can't wait to see this! Coming to a theater in every city in December 2012, the first installment of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Already being filmed on location in New Zealand, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, brings back familiar characters portrayed in the Lord of the Rings. Ian McKellen reprises his role as Gandalf the Grey, along with Ian Holmes, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood and Christopher Lee as Bilbo Baggins, Legolas, Frodo Baggins and Saruman the White, respectively. Newcomers Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage will be the young Bilbo and Thorin Oakensheild. Sounds exciting? YES!

What really has gotten me going was seeing this trailer...



I LOVED, LOVED the Lord of the Rings. As a kid, I must have read the books by J.R.R. Tolkien at least a thousand times before the movies came out. Usually. I prefer the books over the movie versions, however TLOR was a major exception. Not only the special effects dazzled me, it was the acting, the directing and the close similarities to the book that put the movie the top of my list of all time favorites. So, this movie should ought to a real treat...

For those who never read the Hobbit, it's a prelude to The Lord of the Rings. It's the book that started it all...

The plot according to a press release from Warner Bros. Pictures...

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, 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, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. 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 second installment to be released in December 2013.