Fresh off yesterday’s teaser trailer debut, Warner Bros. has released a few new The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies images for director Peter Jackson’s final installment in his J.R.R. Tolkein saga.  This third Hobbit film will obviously cover the concluding events of the book, but will also likely cover much more ground from Tolkein’s appendices, as we glimpsed some truly epic footage of Lee Pace’s Thranduil doing battle and Ian McKellen’s Gandalf in a rather precious position in yesterday’s trailer.  I still don’t think the Hobbit films are near the quality of Jackson’s masterful Lord of the Rings trilogy, but during the Hobbit panel at Comic-Con last weekend, I did get the sense that Jackson really aims to go out on a high note with this one.  Here’s hoping he succeeds.

Hit the jump to check out the new The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies images.  The film also stars Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Evangeline Lilly, Stephen Fry, Hugo Weaving, and Benedict CumberbatchThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opens in theaters on December 17th.

Click on any image for high-resolution.

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Here’s the official synopsis for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies:

“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town. Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.