With a new blockbuster-friendly title, Peter Jackson will be closing out his journey to Middle-earth this year with the December-bound The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. On the heels of last year’s Desolation of Smaug, Warner Bros. have now unveiled the first trailer for the adventure, which will be attached to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend.
“There’s a lot of sadness and tragedy. It’s always good when you can kill off some main characters as a filmmaker,” Jackson told the Comic-Con crowd this weekend. “It’s a chance to do something ugly, powerful and emotional.” Considering Smaug was a step up from the lackluster first feature in the trilogy, hopefully Jackson and company continue the trend with this finale and add some stakes. After a view of the trailer below, one can pop on over to Amazon, who have a great deal on the Extended Edition set of the original trilogy today.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town.
Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain.
As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opens on December 17th.