Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien's "The Lord of The Rings," which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King." The adventure of "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 from the fearsome dragon Smaug.
Under Peter Jackson's direction, both movies are being shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Filming is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.
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 (in alphabetical order) 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. Peter 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.
"The Hobbit" films are productions of New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing being handled by MGM.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes to theaters December 14th, 2012 and stars Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee. The film is directed by Peter Jackson.
The Hobbit: There and Back Again comes to theaters December 13th, 2013 and stars Ron Perlman, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Doug Jones, Kiran Shah, Billy Connolly.
Comments (22)
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Bane. Ferguson
Now lets just await the teaser trailer or more!
1 year agoby @Zak-FFlag
Brizzy
@jptheredskull .. that's actually hilarious :P I got it the day that the photo was first shown in MW!!!
1 year agoby @BrizzyFlag
Nautical
Haha i like this guy.
1 year agoby @nautical05Flag
Brian
Stoked!
1 year agoby @brianFlag
Shadow Of The Day
Great News.
1 year agoby @asifFlag
Cheetoboy
YEAH, Both the titles are very good, especially the first one being the Unexpected Journey, but although I was very formula with the first Hobbit and even watching the classical cartoon movie based on the book, I never heard of a second one, I know the first one is about them soon facing off against Smuag the Dragon, but what is the second story about? I heard rumors that it's suppose to be about 60 years of Bilbo's life before the Lord of The Rings story.
1 year agoby @cheetoboyFlag
J.P.
@Brizzy HOW DARE THEE STEAL MY AVATAR!!!!!!!! BLASPHEMY I SAY THEE!!!
1 year agoby @jptheredskullFlag
Bawnian©-Dexeus
Awesomeness
1 year agoby @bawnian-dexeusFlag
Mr_Jellyfish
@k-man Exactly, the titles are very fitting, and have a more homely quality than the Lord of the Rings titles which is fitting considering the Hobbit was more of a children's book. I can't wait for these films
1 year agoby @mr-jellyfishFlag
K-Man
Glad to hear the titles are now official!! I like them and think they are suiting for the story.....not to mention poetic considering The first films title is a slight reworking of the title of the first chapter in the book "An unexpected party" and the second film's title is the same title that Bilbo Baggins named the novel of his adventure.....which is what The Hobbit is about.
So these are proper titles through and through. Glad to see it! Cant wait for the release!!!
1 year agoby @k-manFlag
Salem6777
@mattbierwagen the titles are lame ok
1 year agoby @Salem6777Flag
Worth5Bucks
@Salem6777 what?! i wouldn't want them to be anything different
1 year agoby @mattbierwagenFlag
Worth5Bucks
i thought those titles would be switched but this is good
1 year agoby @mattbierwagenFlag
skywise
hell ya! This is going to be fantastic
1 year agoby @skywiseFlag
LuxoIII
Fitting titles and I'm glad they're not just slapping on Part 1 and Part 2 like the last two Harry Potter films did
1 year agoby @brady1138Flag
Brizzy
Finally, things are in their proper places. Now we wait :)
1 year agoby @BrizzyFlag
Salem6777
lame titles but i will still see both of them
1 year agoby @Salem6777Flag
CUPID
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sounds awesome.
The Hobbit: There and Back Again sounds kinda cheesy but i'll still watch.
1 year agoby @cupidFlag
account-closed
12/14/2012. Still a while to go, but good to know.
1 year agoby @account-closedFlag
Mutant
Nice titles. Once they are finished with I would like to see one of the other books as films.
Maybe convert the short stories into feature length films or just animate them in the style of Shrek.
1 year agoby @zenderFlag
Dan
Good subtitles for both movies, in the right order, too.
1 year agoby @dan1Flag
Dan
F*cking awesomeness.
1 year agoby @dan1Flag