If you bought a copy of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, last night you were treated to a special live presentation of Peter Jackson talking about the upcoming sequel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. In addition, Jackson was joined by stars Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, and Lee Pace as well as The Lord of the Rings cast members Orlando Bloom (who also appears in Smaug), Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan as well as special surprise appearance by Tolkien super-fan Stephen Colbert, who has a cameo in The Hobbit trilogy. In the presentation, Jackson showed off new concept art, behind-the-scenes video, and a scene from the film.
Hit the jump for more including when we'll see the first trailer. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 3D on December 13th.
Update: WB has asked us to take down the images.Â
JoBlo reports that Jackson showed off art of Elvish stronghold of Thranduilâs realm in Mirkwood as well as some set footage of Legolas (Bloom) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly). Tauriel is an original character, and over footage of her laying into some orcs, Jackson said, "Weâre quite excited about the storyline we have created for Tauriel. As you can see, sheâs not an Elf Guard to be messed with." I didn't see the presentation, but I assume Jackson didn't go on to say, "Also, we really needed some female characters in these movies. There are like, almost none."
Jackson also showed some behind-the-scenes footage of Lake Town where we see the town's master (Fry) and the heroic Bard the Bowman (Evans). Evans says he's headed back to set in June for reshoots, and I'm curious if some of that filming might also include the extra footage needed to expand The Hobbit into a trilogy.
Fans were also shown a new scene from the film where Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy) investigate Dol Goldur. Here's what JoBlo had to say:
It's an abandoned crypt where it is revealed that it has been opened "from the inside."Â It's a pretty spooky scene, actually, and really plays up the evil elements of the series, which were hinted at with the necromancer from the first film (and which Jackson confirms here, will be back).
Finally, Jackson says the first trailer is due out this summer (I wonder if it will debut at Comic-Con), that the great video blogs will continue, and the presentation is "kind of the first one", so it's possible that the live presentation will eventually be released for everyone to see.
Peruse our coverage of The Hobbit below:
- Martin Freeman Talks THE HOBBIT, Working with Peter Jackson, Lego Sets, Deleted Scenes, the Merchandise, His Favorite Places in Wellington, and More
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Review
- THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN Pushed Back to December 17, 2014
- First image from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
- Daveâs review of the film
- 6 clips from the film
- 20-minutes of behind-the-scenes footage.
- First Image from The Hobbit: There and Back Again Features Orlando Bloom and Luke Evans
- Steveâs set visit round-up and 70 things to know
- Peter Jackson on-set interview
- Ian McKellan on-set interview
- Martin Freeman on-set interview
- Richard Armitage on-set interview
- Weta Workshop head Richard Taylor on-set interview