An Unexpected Image: First Hobbit Picture

Here's the first image of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in the first part of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit adaptation epic, An Unexpected Journey. Pretty sweet, eh?

Those are some hot looking dwarves (and ears).

This comes soon after the news that the first "block" of shooting on the prequels is finished, leaving Jackson with some time to do some sweet, sweet promotion before the next, beginning in August. Whilst I'm here, I guess I ought to also mention that Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock himself, no less) will be starring alongside his Sherlock side kick as the voice of the dragon, Smaug. And - get this - will also be providing the motion capture for the quadrupedal, winged beast as well as lending his voice to another character, Necromancer.

      Smaug plays a pivotal role in the novel's main plot, as the story's lead antagonist who guards the Lonely Mountain and its vast hoards of treasure. Necromancer, on the other hand, is a character only mentioned briefly within the books as a great evil the White Council (wizards) had to overcome, if my memory serves me right. Seeing as the book is being split up into two movies, it's highly likely Smaug's role will be a  lot more crucial to the second half, entitled There and Back Again, coming December 2013. Necromancer could slip into either one, as Jackson has stated before that a lot more not seen in the books will be explored, including where Gandalf kept mysteriously leaving to...


Hit this link to EW for a couple more little shots, and then enjoy the excruciatingly painful wait for December 14th 2012.

Trailer Tuesday: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn

As you may remember, a few weeks back I was heavily praising the new Tintin movie, due out this October, directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson respectively. Well, here's the first trailer and it's looking mighty fine. Taking a great leap forward in both animation and motion-capture, Tintin might just end up as one of the best movies of the year.
 Here's the synopsis:

"Combining the stories of The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, the film depicts Tintin's (Jamie Bell) first encounter with Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and the discovery of a clue to the treasure of his ancestor Sir Francis Haddock. They set out to find it with protection from a prison escapee who tried to get the treasure as well as Detectives Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost)." - Wikipedia