Here’s a sneak peek clip from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , the long-awaited movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic book which is being shot as a prequel to Sir Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The clip features Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf and depicts a scene which takes place early in J.R.R. Tolkien’s original novel.
The film kicks off a new cinema trilogy from Jackson, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM).
The next instalment The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be released on on December 13 2013 with the final chapter The Hobbit: There and Back Again arriving in cinemas on July 18 2014.
The films are set sixty years before The Lord of the Rings and, as if you don’t already know, follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman)who finds himself caught up in an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom from the fearsome dragon Smaug.
The movies are being filmed in 3D at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand and also star Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey 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.