The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
At the beginning of the noughties no Christmas was complete with a new instalment of The Lord of the Rings franchise as the movies dominated the box office for three consecutive years... and history looks set to repeat itself this Christmas with the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
For a while it looked like it was never going to but Oscar winner Peter Jackson is back in the director's chair to bring Middle Earth to life once again - and it is a movie that I have been excited about for so long.
Split into two movies it won't be until winter 2013 that we will get to see the full picture but these will be the must see movies of the next two years.
Martin Freeman will lead the all star cast as he takes over the role of Bilbo Baggins from Ian Holm and this is a role that looks set to see his star rocket.
Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis are back as Gandalf and Gollum whilst the likes of Orlando Bloom and Elijah Wood will also be reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings.
But Freeman is not the only new face on the cast list as Richard Armitage, Billy Connolly and Lee Pace are all on board with roles as Thorin Oakenshield, Dain Ironfoot and King Thranduil.
Peter Jackson is back in the director's chair while Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are also back to pen the screenplay.
The movie follows Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, who journeys to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released 14th December
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in The Hobbit Peter Jackson Martin Freeman