With 18 months left until the premiere this could get pretty annoying, pretty fast. After showcasing them on the cover, Empire has premiered two new images from Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit prequels and they look nearly identical to ones we’ve already seen. The images are that of Martin Freeman as our lead character Bilbo Baggins, and Ian McKellan as Gandalf. The latter offers a slightly different shot as we see down the hall of Baggins. I’d much rather be seeing Peter Jackson’s production videos than still like these, but you can check them out above a below, along with a new quote.
“I’m exactly the same filmmaker as I was ten years ago,” says Jackson. “I’m trying to nail the same thing that I did before. I’m just telling the story.” The only difference is that this time he has a bunch of snarky dwarves to corral. ““They don’t know what to make of Gandalf, they think Bilbo is a wuss, and Elrond a prissy headmaster type,” laughs Jackson.
The massive cast includes Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, 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, Aidan Turner, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, and Barry Humphries.
Synopsis:
“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, which was long ago conquered by the 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 Oakensheild. 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 Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th, 2012, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again will be released on December 13th, 2013.
What do you think of this new look?