Five More HOBBIT Character Posters!

Tim here, and here are yet another five more character posters for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Again spread across the last few posts on The Hobbit's Official Facebook Page. The images above are the new posters, and each keeps the close-up on the face of the character theme; First up Bard (Lee Evans), then Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), followed by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), then Thranduil (Lee Pace), and lastly Bilbo (Martin Freeman). Yes, another Bilbo poster, but this one stays in the theme of the others.

Next up we'll get posters of Merry, Pippin, and Samwise... kidding. Obviously, we've yet to get all the dwarves: Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Ori, Nori, Dori, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, and Balin. My, oh my, I hope I didn't leave anyone out. However, Bilbo is the last of the character posters according to the Facebook Page. And then: the theatrical trailer!

I can't say when the theatrical trailer will hit. However, it is supposed to be this month. So keep cool and we'll let you know a soon as it hits.

The release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies arrives in theaters December 17^th, 2014 in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D, HFR 3D shot in native 3D with 3ality Technica rigs.

New Poster Of Bilbo For THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES !

Tim here, and it looks like we'll be getting the next trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies soon because yesterday Peter Jackson shared a new poster on his Official Facebook Page. The image to the left is the new poster. It depicts Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) with his sword, Sting, thrust out in front of him, and what lies behind him is the devastation of a battle with burning flags and what looks to be the ruin of Dale.

Now there's nothing that explicitly states that we're getting a new trailer soon, however due to comments earlier in the year it's more than probable. Back in July when the teaser trailer was released we had been informed that the full theatrical trailer would hit in the fall. Our belief was that it would possibly be October. With the release of this poster on Jackson's Facebook it sparks the need to pay close attention again to Jackson's page. Most of the activity since the teaser trailer debut has been with regards to The Hobbit Fan Contest. Thus, this poster is an indication that activity on the page is about to increase. And we're still early in October so it could be the end of October that we'll actually get to see the trailer released. However, we're going to keep an open eye out for you and post it hear as soon as it's available.

In the meantime enjoy this new poster. I hope it's the start of many more Character Posters that we'll be seeing leading up to the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The movie hits theaters December 17^th, 2014 in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D, HFR 3D - all shot in native 3D with 3ality Technica rigs!

Watch: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Extended Edition Scene Disc Preview

Tim here, and in case you forgot about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition, we've got a preview of a scene from it here! I know, how can there be more goodness from the second Hobbit movie? Well there is and I'm pretty excited about it. With any luck we'll get a special The Hobbit Extended Edition Marathon in 3D in theaters leading up to the release of The Battle of the Five Armies. 

The scene showcases Bilbo's climbing skills after the company reaches a swamp, which they've been warned by Gandalf holds some dark enchantments. That doesn't appear to stop the dwarves though, who encourage Bilbo to cross as he's the lightest. 

Check out the scene below:

There will be a total of 25-minutes of additional and extended scenes for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition. It's going to show some intriguing new moments from Bilbo's journey. 

You can grab a copy of the The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition on November 3^rd on 3D Blu-Ray (and it's native 3D of course - shot on 3ality Technica rigs), 2D Blu-Ray, and DVD, a month before The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies hits theaters on December 17^th, 2014 in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D, HFR 3D, and regular flavor 2D.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Teaser Trailer Lands

Tim here, and the Teaser Trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is here! It's the final Hobbit movie, and it looks insane already. Check it out below:

First thoughts are: WOW! I love how the logos fly by at the very beginning. They would look so cool in stereo 3D, and I hope that I can see it in front of Guardians of the Galaxy this Friday in 3D. And the native 3D for the production should be over the top with 3ality Technica manning the camera rigs! We barely get glimpses of the action that is to come in the movie. We see a brief shot of Smaug bringing devastation to Laketown, followed by a shot of the aftermath. I definitely get a sense of the "calm before the storm" type of pacing with this teaser trailer. There's plenty of shots leading up to the big titular battle, and possibly some shots from it. I will say that the cinematography, color, and VFX presented within are already impressive.

The movie hits theaters December 17^th, 2014 in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D, HFR 3D, and regular flavor 2D. We can also expect a full theatrical trailer in the fall, probably around October.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG - Tim's Review

Tim here, and what follows is my review for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which is the second part in the Peter Jackson movie trilogy adapted from the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. To sum up quickly my overall thoughts: The second movie is an improvement upon the first with an exciting and thrilling adventure that ends on a stupendous cliffhanger! Next year can't come soon enough.

The story is a much faster pace, which is an improvement over the slow beginning its predecessor. It opens with a prologue in the familiar Lord of the Rings local Bree, and a carrot chomping PJ cameo! It's set before the beginning of the adventure, when Gandalf (Ian McKellan) found Thorin (Richard Armitage) and incited the quest in his mind and that they'd need a burglar for the job. Cut to immediately after the events of the last one and the company of dwarves, with wizard and Hobbit, are still being pursued by orcs. This keeps them moving as they make a quick rest at the home of Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), who single-handedly is able to scare the orcs from attacking, before they venture into Mirkwood. Here the company breaks up as Gandalf goes to explore more in regards to the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, and the company continues on their journey through the forest to the Lonely Mountain. Unlike the book we actually get to follow Gandalf simultaneously as the company travels along their dangerous road, complete with spiders, elves, the men of Laketown, and finally the chiefest of calamities: Smaug.

Without going into any real spoilers, the story is handled very well, with the deviations not being too problematic. P.J. has been quoted in Empire as saying "I'm quite enjoying deviating from the books!" Well, here in The Desolation of Smaug he makes the boldest deviations yet. Do they work? I'll hold off my final thoughts until I see the final movie There and Back Again to judge how well the deviations work. However, initial thoughts are that some work for me and some don't. There's a great moment when Bilbo (Martin Freeman) puts on the Ring to evade the spiders and can understand what they're saying, which displays some of the way in which the Ring's magic effects him. Additionally during that sequence there's a moment where Bilbo loses the Ring and desperately, and fanatically, fights off a smaller insect creature that is crawling near the Ring. "Mine!" and the power of the Ring's pull on Bilbo is displayed so wonderfully well. That was a clever and nice deviation. Then there's the budding romance between new elf warrior Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and dwarf Kili (Aidan Turner) that's a new deviation that I will hold judgment on until it plays its course in the final chapter. There is one thing that happens here during this growing relationship that pays homage to Lord of the Rings, but I feel that it's not right here and belongs solely to The Fellowship of the Ring. You'll know it when you see it. The story has many great moments, including a Martin Freeman one after he gets the dwarves into the barrels and realizes he didn't get a barrel for himself. The barrel sequence is thrilling (with Bombur (Stephen Hunter) awesomeness), Laketown is impressive, and the Lonely Mountain is immense, and Smaug stupendous!

"An exciting and thrilling middle chapter to The Hobbit trilogy!"

The performances in the film continue to be fantastic. Martin Freeman was the perfect casting for Bilbo as he brings such humor and humility to the role. Ian McKellan continues his magnificent work as a conjurer of more magic inside the role of Gandalf as there is on display onscreen from the magicians at WETA Digital. Richard Armitage displays the most range yet as he begins to let show Thorin's family treasure madness taking form, and Kenn Scott as Balin continues to council him and remind him of his duties as a leader. Ken Scott really makes it that when rewatching The Fellowship of the Ring a tear can't help but be shed upon seeing Balin's tomb. Evangeline Lilly was a wonderful addition to the cast in a newly made-up character, and she played her scenes very well. Especially against a hauntingly majestic Thranduil (Lee Pace) and Legolas. Orlando Bloom returns to the role as if riding an oliphant, and has a wonderful moment when searching the dwarves' possessions upon their capture and comes upon a photo of young Gimli amongst Gloin's things. He and Gloin (Peter Hambleton) share a great moment that will make many fans laugh. Sylvestor McCoy makes an additional appearance as Radagast and it's a wonderful treat yet again. Too bad his screen time was so short. Hopefully there will be more of him in the third installment. Luke Evans did a fantastic job as Bard, and as well his ancestor Girion in a flashback, and added much more depth to the character than was in the source material. Stephen Fry was absolutely sublime casting for the Master of Laketown. Finally we come to Benedict Cumberbatch who played both the Necromancer and the titular Smaug. What a performance! Benedict Cumberbatch brought Smaug to life in such a way that was awe inspiring, magnificent, and a real treasure. He didn't just provide his voice, but instead gave a performance capture that lit up the screen.

Andrew Lesnie continued his breathtaking cinematography in this installment, and the stereo 3D (rigs provided by the awesome 3ality Technica) and high frame rate maintained to bring the world to life in a way that makes me wish more movies were shot this way. 3ality did some customized rigs for the barrel sequence, and the 3D during that sequence is insane. Since a huge amount of this movie is digital visual effects it's important to bring up the fantastic work of WETA Digital, and their work greatly benefitted from the stereo 3D and HFR. Smaug in particular was amazing to see in the format. Some of my favorite moments from the film regarding the stereo 3D are the snow falling during a pivotal scene in Laketown, the great expansive and empty halls of the Lonely Mountain, and the massive scale of Smaug. However, what's all this without the sound design? Dolby Atmos preserves the 3D atmosphere in the sound, and there was so much in the sound design that the world felt entirely real. I can't imagine how many coins they had to rustle with to get all those different variations. Howard Shore provided a rich score that introduced many new themes. In particular Smaug's theme was one that sticks with you for a long time after the screen had cut to black. On a technical level this is a masterpiece.

Peter Jackson did a fantastic job directing this movie, but special mention also has to go to Andy Serkis as the Second Unit Director. Together they brought the world of Middle-Earth to life with all the rest of their team with so much verisimilitude to Tolkien's descriptions. I'm extremely excited to see the next installment, and as stated earlier December 2014 can't come soon enough.

MUST WATCH TRAILER: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer #2

Tim here and the second trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is out! And Smaug speaks! There are some visual and audio spoilers for those who may want to save some treats until the big screening in theaters. However, it generally shows more action shots than the previous trailer, but also more of how the story continues from AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY.

We see a bit more of the Elves, a little more hints about the Necromancer's true identity, more Bard and spiders, and a little bit of Beorn. The trailer gives an idea of where film #2 will end, and where it's likely There and Back Again will pick up. It's still obvious that the Battle of the Five Armies will be the central part of the final chapter, but at least now we know with certainty that Smaug will be the central point of the middle chapter.

We're especially proud of the trailer as 3ality Technica is the 3D camera rig system Peter Jackson selected for use all the Hobbit movies. Specifically the TS-5 rigs. 3ality Technica has been at the forefront of 3D technology for a long time and it shows! Can't wait to see the results on the big screen for Smaug!

On December 13^th The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits IMAX 3D and RealD 3D screens in HFR and SFR.

MUST SEE: First Trailer For THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG !!

Tim here and finally the first trailer for THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG is out! And it was awesome. There are some visual spoilers for those who may want to save some treats until the big screening in theaters. However, it generally shows how the story continues from AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. 

First, you see Smaug at the end of the trailer. That's right. You see the great lizard in the trailer. His face, not just a small bit of him. Now we only see his face and neck, but that's still a huge deal. We also get to see some of Thranduil's Elven kingdom, Orlando Bloom's return as Legalos, Bard the Bowemen (Luke Evans), and Tauriel in action. Thranduil (Lee Pace) speaks, and probably has the most lines in the trailer, but we also get some lines from Legalos, Tauriel, and Bard.  

There's a bunch of action shots, including the elves fighting the orcs of Azog, the dwarves travelling by barrell, and a little bit of spiders. Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and Radagast (Sylvester McCoy) explore Dol Godur, and share some ominous lines before being attacked.  

Enough explaining what you see and hear, without further ado, the trailer is below:

On December 13^th THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG hits IMAX 3D and RealD 3D screens.

MUST SEE: First Poster For THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG And Trailer Rumors!!

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE!

UPDATE #2: Jim Here - Here's the REAL DEAL! Direct from Peter Jackson's Facebook page! Enjoy!!

UPDATE: POSTER IS FAKE! Sorry but it has been pointed out that this poster is a fake. It appears that it was photoshopped from a previous poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. We apologize. You can see the original poster this image came from in the comments section. But hopefully the rumors that we posted below about the trailer turn out to be true.
Tim here and 3ality Technica released on their Facebook Page the first poster for THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG. It's a low-res copy sadly, for which I apologize. The higher resolution versions I could find online were only up-scaled versions and had a watermark on it that made it tough to look at.

As you can see it's a pretty simple character poster that shows Bilbo (Martin Freeman) holding Sting. Behind him are some trees, what looks like a bit of rock face, and over his shoulder on the left side of the poster is the slightest peak of a building of some type. Could this be Beorn's house? Or perhaps could it be a building from the Elven kingdom of Thranduil? Time will tell.

Also rumors have been circulating that the very first trailer for the movie will be in front of MAN OF STEEL on June 14^th and could possibily hit YouTube on June 12^th. The rumors have come out of two articles (here and here) from theonering.net, and it seems likely that it could happen. Both articles state that the trailer will be 2-minutes and 1-second.

Come June 12^th we'll see if the trailer hits YouTube. Look out for it. December 13^th is when THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG hits IMAX 3D and RealD 3D screens.

First Gollum, Now The Trolls Want To Eat Bilbo! Watch The New TV Spot For THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY!!

Click to enlarge

Check out this TV Spot for THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY featuring Bilbo encountering some trolls - hungry, talking trolls to be precise.

I love that Bilbo seems to have a sense of humor even when the situation is grim. Those trolls are not exactly civilized - although they do speak English.

Combine this TV Spot with the trolls wanting to eat him, and Gollum from the trailer stating "If Baggins loses, we eats it whole", one starts to imagine a very succulent Hobbit this time around. Or perhaps Bilbo is carrying around some rather enticing cooking spices in his backpack which would naturally led any conversation to eating... ? :-)

Here's the movie's storyline:
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY follows 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 Oakenshield. 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.

Hit the jump for more...

Must See: New Poster And Image Of Evangeline Lilly As Tauriel In THE HOBBIT

Click to enlarge

Couple of new marketing items for you to have a look at from THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. A rather cool looking poster featuring Martin Freeman as a rather intent looking Bilbo Baggins and a new image of Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel. Of course Tauriel does not appear in Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, but she appears to be a rather gifted warrior with a bow and arrow in Peter Jackson's take on the material. Think female Legolas and you probably wouldn't be too far off. I think she looks the part, so why not introduce this new role if it helps carry 3 movies somehow more effectively?

Here's the official storyline for the movie:
The adventure 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. 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 Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs 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 ingenuity 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 14.

Sources: Peter Jackson | TORn

Hobbit Trailer #2 Released!

Hey all, Tim here with the exciting and enthralling new trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It's a pleasure to see the world of Middle Earth come to life again. Below is the trailer, and following is a quick, hopefully non-spoilerish, sum up.

IN ADDITION: The Hobbit's official website has four additional ending scenes for you to choose! There is some great marketing being done with these movies.

First thoughts are that there will be plenty of humor and action in this first installment of the trilogy. You get a better sense of the plot in this trailer as well. Martin Freeman seems to nail Bilbo, and the exchange between him and Gollum in the trailer is classic. Hands down this will be a serious contender at the Oscars for visual effects, but could Sir Ian McKellan be up for another Oscar nomination as well? I think the Gandalf ending has enough humor and Gandalf goodness to suggest the chances for another nomination.

More discussion can follow in the comments below. For now enjoy the trailer. You can download in Quicktime from Apple here.

A New Look At Gollum And An Update On A Potential Third Hobbit Movie!

Obviously the performance capture tech behind Gollum has improved dramatically since the LORD OF THE RINGS days and one only needs to look at he first shot to see just how it is being shot this time around.

Of note is that Gollum (being played by the perfcap maestro himself, Andy Serkis) is able to be in the same room and perform with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) at the same time. This is a huge advantage over the LOTR series where they had to perform separately. Now the actors can work off of each other and potentially improve on an already impressive pedigree in visual effects.

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY will have a young Gollum involved which should prove to be very visually impressive! Can't wait to see what they have in store for us - all shot in native 3D with Red Epics on 3ality Technica rigs in 48 frames per second!

After watching Peter Jackson's final production diary video (there are upcoming post-production diaries coming too), you have got to be wired in to this movie! What more could possibly happen to get us even more excited?

How about a third Hobbit movie! Yes, it's in the works. Peter Jackson and his team are huddling with the studio now to try and line up financing for some shooting next year of a "bridge movie" that would connect THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN and THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (which was released a surprising 11 years ago! My how time flies).

Here's what Peter Jackson had to say about the notion of a 3rd Hobbit movie:
"We've been certainly talking to the studio about some of the material we can't film. And we've been asking them if we can do a bit more filming next year…I'd like to shoot a bunch more material that we can't shoot. There's so much good stuff in the appendices that we haven't been able to squeeze into these movies."

On the other hand, they may get the go ahead to turn the extra shooting days into an extended version of the two Hobbit movies for release on disc. I'll take "Make it a third movie" for $100 Alex.

Here's the storyline for THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY:
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY follows 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 Oakenshield. 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, goldring 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 14.

Source: E!

MUST SEE: New Image From THE HOBBIT - Bilbo And The Beards!

I must confess that while I liked how Martin Freeman visually would look like a hobbit, I didn't know his acting mannerisms or even how his voice sounded when I first heard of his casting by Peter Jackson.

But now I have watched him in SHERLOCK, that particularly incredible TV series from the BBC and he IS Bilbo Baggins. Almost a perfect embodiment.

One does not need to be further excited about the pending release of THE HOBBIT - it will be one of the brightest moments of 2012 cinema. But little pieces of magic (like this photo) are always a cause for pause.

Enjoy. THE HOBBIT starts its journey December 14.

Source: Yahoo

MUST SEE: Bilbo Baggins In THE HOBBIT!

Are you ready for the trailer for THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY tonight?? 7pm Pacific time to be precise.

Here's a little something more to amp you up: A new image from the production's Facebook page!

Here are the photo details:
(L-r) JAMES NESBITT as Bofur, MARTIN FREEMAN as Bilbo Baggins (front), STEPHEN HUNTER as Bombur, GRAHAM McTAVISH as Dwalin, WILLIAM KIRCHER as Bifur and JED BROPHY as Nori in New Line Cinema’s and MGM’s fantasy adventure “THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by James Fisher.

A think it's a fair wager to say most of you will be tuning in tonight!! :-)

Peter Jackson: Ian Holm Returning As Older Bilbo In THE HOBBIT

Good news. Ian Holm is returning as the older version of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's THE HOBBIT!

Jackson himself confirmed the news to his official Facebook page: "One comment that came up from the recent video blog was the Bilbo voice at the end—many of you assumed it was Sir Ian Holm. Whilst Ian will be returning as the older Bilbo Baggins in 'The Hobbit,' that recording was actually Martin Freeman's voice, taken from a script read through we recorded when the cast first arrived. I have to admit, I wasn't sure who it was when I first heard it, either. Cheers, Peter J"

Can't wait to see the Martin Freeman / Ian Holm transition during the movie - whether it is simply a matter of Holm reading from the book (ala Elijah Wood) or whether it is more intricate.

Stay tuned for more!

SHORT Casting Announcement For THE HOBBIT!

'Short casting' as in a partial naming of THE HOBBIT's 13 dwarves and the announcement of who is playing the infamous Bilbo Baggins! All of this has been officially released by Peter Jackson.

Click the image to enlarge...

Here are the announced cast signings for THE HOBBIT(s):

Martin Freeman plays the younger Bilbo (Ian Holm played the older Bilbo in LOTR).

Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
Aidan Turner and Rob Kazinsky as Kili and Fili
Graham McTavish as Dwalin
John Calin as Oin
Stephen Hunter as Bombur
Mark Hadlow as Dori
Peter Hambleton as Oin

Here is the official press release:
Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton have joined the ensemble cast of the The Hobbit, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.; Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., and Peter Jackson.

Since The Hobbit films received a green light on October 15, pre-production has been in full swing. Set for release in December, 2012 and December, 2013, we can confirm that Martin Freeman (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Hot Fuzz) will play Bilbo Baggins, the hero of the story. Richard Armitage (UK TV’s MI-5 and soon to appear in Captain America: The First Avenger) is set to play Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the Company of Dwarves which sets off to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from a thieving dragon.

“Despite the various rumours and speculation surrounding this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us,” says Peter Jackson. “There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin. He is intelligent, funny, surprising and brave – exactly like Bilbo and I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce that he is our Hobbit.”

He adds “Richard is one of the most exciting and dynamic actors working on screen today and we know he is going to make an amazing Thorin Oakensheild. We cannot wait to start this adventure with him and feel very lucky that one of the most beloved characters in Middle-earth is in such good hands.”

Rounding out the Company of Dwarves are Aidan Turner (TV’s Being Human) and Rob Kazinsky (TVs EastEnders) who play Kili and Fili, respectively. Jackson comments “Rob is an extremely talented young actor with a huge career in front of him, I’m thrilled that he has agreed to take on the role of Fili. Besides his talent as an actor, Rob is also a champion sword fighter; I’m looking forward to seeing the damage he can do to a horde of marauding Goblins!” He continues, “Adian is a wonderfully gifted young actor who hails from Ireland. I’m sure he will bring enormous heart and humor to the role of Kili.”

The remaining dwarves will be played by Graham McTavish (Secretariat and TV’s 24) as Dwalin; John Callen (TV’s Power Rangers Jungle Fury) as Oin; Stephen Hunter (TV’s All Saints) as Bombur; Mark Hadlow (King Kong) as Dori; and Peter Hambleton (TV’s The Strip) as Gloin.

Jackson notes, “Graham is a terrific actor, with a great depth of experience, which I know he will bring to the role of “Dwalin. I have worked with Mark Hadlow on many projects; he is a fantastic actor. I am thrilled to be working with both of them on these movies." He adds, “I am also proud to announce the casting of New Zealand actors as Peter Hambleton, John Callen and Stephen Hunter. Fran and I know that they will bring great depth and talent to our Company of Dwarves.”

The two The Hobbit films are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production, Warner Bros. Pictures handling domestic distribution and MGM distributing internationally. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham are producing the films, with Phillipa Boyens serving as co-producer and Ken Kamins as executive producer.

The Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed LOTR trilogy, also from the production team of Jackson, Walsh and Cunningham, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box office. In 2003, Return of the King swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture — the first-ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time.

Exciting times!! Let's get this thing on the road. There and back again. RIGHT NOW.