Looks pretty good. I don't really care about the 3D, but I read that it was shot at 48 frames per second so it should look awesome in either format.
G0k3kHtyoqc

The movie will be released in two episodes. The first will be subtitled "An Unexpected Journey" and released in 2012, the second subtitled "There and Back Again" and released in 2013.

It'l be interesting to see how well it expands the book and then bridges towards the trilogy. So excited and great to see Sir Ian and a several of the other trilogy cast members back for their rolls. Not sure if I'm going to enjoy seeing some of them they are bringing back that didn't even appear in the book, but we'll see what happens.

Will be interesting to see how they do Smaug as he was a very interesting character in the book.

What I thought was odd is that I always pictured Thorin Oakenshield as an older, more grey-haired character, being the leader of the dwarves, but I guess that was just my assumption. I don't think he's specifically described that way in the book. And what's Galadriel doing in the movie?

I wonder if they will leave out the Beorn character like they did Tom Bombadill in the LOTR movies.

*Edit - I guess Beorn will be in the movie - "The Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikael_Persbrandt) is cast as Beorn in Peter Jackson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson)'s The Hobbit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_%282012_film%29)."

I'm looking forward to seeing it. I might have to read the book, once again, before.

And what's Galadriel doing in the movie?

There are several LOTR characters being placed in the movies that aren't in the book. Most of it apparently is done to tie them together some and also for the general population to have something to relate to. Not sure I really like that as The Hobbit should be strong enough to stand on its own.

We'll see to what extent they are presented in. Frodo is back, even though he isn't alive yet. Galadriel like you mentioned is another not in the book. Legolas and Saruman are also back even though they aren't in the book. From what I have read a lot will be done, especially in the 2nd movie, to tie the two story lines together and also focus on the downfall of the Lord of the Rings and how things got to where they were in the LOTR trilogy.

Time to reread the book! Isn't that guy playing young bilbo one of the no-name hobbits from Fellowship? That's kind of lame...

Martin Freeman (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0293509/) plays young Bilbo and he wasn't in any of the LOTR movies. But hey, they all look alike. :lol2:

martin freeman is awesome in sherlock... check it out if you haven't seen it. -M

martin freeman is awesome in sherlock... check it out if you haven't seen it. -M


Not to mention he was great as Arthur Dent !!

Needs more Smaug!

No Smaug yet, but Peter Jackson has been releasing behind the scenes production videos. Check them out here:
http://www.thehobbitblog.com/?cat=8

I'm pretty sure Smaug is the one character the want to keep secret as long as possible.

Yea he probably won't be seen in the first movie anyways.

That brings up the point of where are they planning to end the first episode and begin the second. I'm thinking that a natural break-point would be after the group escapes from Mirkwood's elf king and they arrive in Laketown. That's about the middle of the book.

Any other ending would be anticlimactic.

There are several LOTR characters being placed in the movies that aren't in the book. Most of it apparently is done to tie them together some and also for the general population to have something to relate to. Not sure I really like that as The Hobbit should be strong enough to stand on its own.

We'll see to what extent they are presented in. Frodo is back, even though he isn't alive yet. Galadriel like you mentioned is another not in the book. Legolas and Saruman are also back even though they aren't in the book. From what I have read a lot will be done, especially in the 2nd movie, to tie the two story lines together and also focus on the downfall of the Lord of the Rings and how things got to where they were in the LOTR trilogy.

There were quite a few things from the books that were omitted in the film Trilogy. There were also a few things added/enhanced/changed as well. Overall I was happy despite the changes and I think Peter Jackson will be pretty faithful, again only making changes for the sake of film making.