THE HOBBIT NEWS

Billy Connolly Joins 'The Hobbit' Cast as Dwarf Warrior Dain Ironfoot

They're not done with The Hobbit yet! Still shooting, still casting, until today! Deadline reports that Peter Jackson has cast Billy Connolly in the role of Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield. Jackson announces the news: "We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the stanchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the Battlefield!" Me either! This is great news to round off their casting, as Connolly is a fan-favorite character actor and fine addition.

New Photo of Bilbo with Sting in 'The Hobbit' + A Quote About Story

It's Sting! Our friends at Hero Complex have unveiled a new photo of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Their piece also includes an interesting quote from writer/producer Philippa Boyens regarding J.R.R. Tolkien's original story, and how it was much more of a challenge to adapt this time. "The story is very much a children's story so deciding how to tell this was one of the first things we had to do," she says. More below, but in the meantime, you can see this awesome image of Bilbo about to name Sting after fighting off the spiders in Mirkwood Forest. I can't wait!

Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit' Video Blog #5 is the Best Christmas Gift

What better way to spend your Christmas weekend curled up by the fire, humming the Dwarven folk song from the teaser trailer, watching another 12-minute video blog about the adventures of Peter Jackson as he continues to film the two Hobbit movies down in New Zealand. The fifth video blog for The Hobbit has just debuted on Facebook (thanks to @iRobulous on the tip & headline suggestion) and it's as spectacular and exciting as you have come to expect. They continue to focus on the logistics location shooting (which is fascinating to see), there's glimpses of Elijah Wood and Quint from AICN as a Hobbit, and more. Enjoy!

Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Trailer Arrives!

"I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure." Ready to return to Middle Earth? The first full trailer for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first part of The Hobbit adaptation, has arrived online in high def tonight via Apple; it'll also be playing in front of Tintin. It's a full trailer and, for Lord of the Rings fans like myself, is everything you could imagine and truly feels like seeing an old friend again. Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo, along with Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Andy Serkis as Gollum, and many others, like Richard Armitage as Thorin and James Nesbitt. Time to smile (and cry). Enjoy!

'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Trailer Arriving Next Tuesday

Briefly: While its been reported before that the very first official trailer for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, due out in December 2012, would be debuting in front of Adventures of Tintin starting next week, word is that it might be online the day before. USA Today is reporting that Warner Bros has set satellite premiere times, meaning they're ready to deliver this thing, for next Tuesday, December 20th. That likely means it'll be online that day (you can watch it right now) so stay tuned next week as there will be a lot of big trailers hitting the web (The Dark Knight Rises, too). And as always, you know FS.net will be the first to post them as soon as they're officially available! In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit...

Update: The first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has debuted and can be viewed here! It's a full-on trailer with an introduction to the 13 dwarfs in the company, plus Gandalf, Bilbo and more. Enjoy!

'Lord of the Rings' Feast - A Day of Middle Earth Dining at the Movies

When Executive Chef John Bullington became a part of the Alamo Drafthouse family back in 2004, one of the ideas he brought with him was to show all three Lord of the Rings films, all 12 hours of them, Extended Editions and all, and serve a feast fit for a Hobbit with much of the same food the characters are talking about in the films. It was a brilliant idea, one that the Drafthouse has executed literally a dozen times now. Luckily, this past weekend, mere days after stuffing my face with all kinds of Thanksgiving sustenance, I was able to experience this feast and all the incredible accoutrements that came with it.

First 'The Hobbit' Trailer Expected to Arrive 'Just Around the Corner'

Briefly: Considering this nothing more than just some pure hype, as this is completely expected, but we're crazy for The Hobbit and it's good news to keep fans on their toes. IGN recently interviewed Andy Serkis and got in a few questions about The Hobbit, including when we might see a trailer. "There will be a trailer fairly soon, actually. Around Christmas time, I believe." Makes sense. As we hit December 14th, that'll be one year to the date of the premiere of the first movie, An Unexpected Journey. When asked what movie the trailer might be on, Serkis couldn't say, except that he is confident there's one "just around the corner."

Video Interview: Actor Luke Evans on Tarsem's 'Immortals' & 'Hobbit'

"Prove me right!" is one of the many fierce and iconic lines Zeus has in Tarsem's Immortals. A few weeks ago I sat down with actor Luke Evans, who plays Zeus, for an interview discussing playing a Greek god in a Tarsem epic. Evans is Welsh actor on the rise appearing in a number of high profile movies all within a few years: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, the other Clash of the Titans, Tamara Drewe, Blitz and W.S. Anderson's Three Musketeers. He's also playing Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, which I couldn't help ask about near the end, as he's already shooting that. It's a brisk but engaging interview, please enjoy.

Watch: Fourth Fantastic 'The Hobbit' Video Blog from Peter Jackson

They're back! "Shooting The Hobbit in 3D is a dream come true." This video blog, the fourth one from Peter Jackson (via his Facebook) for The Hobbit, focuses mainly on 3D, exploring not only the technical details behind it all, but how/why and what it will all look like in the end. It's fascinating, exciting, and just amazing to watch, I'm still blown away by the fact that we get to watch 10 minute behind-the-scenes videos a year out for these movies. This also confirms my expectations that The Hobbit should be as much of a technological/visual leap as the original Lord of the Rings movies were; I cannot wait. Another must watch!

Evangeline Lilly Talks About Her 'Hobbit' Character & Speaks in Elvish!

This is for all the Tolkien geeks out there! Actress Evangeline Lilly, who we know is playing a Woodland Elf named Tauriel in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, recently chatted with Access Hollywood at the red carpet premiere of Real Steel about the two films. She's already been in New Zealand training, which includes working with a "dialect coach, motion coach, language coach, stunt coach" in order to create her character. She's also learning Elvish, which she speaks a brief bit of in the footage they have, which should make all Hobbit geeks go crazy. You can watch the full video of their chat below, which includes some minor details.

Watch: Peter Jackson's Third Wonderful 'The Hobbit' Video Blog is Up

He's back! Peter Jackson took to his Facebook once again to, first, inform everyone that there will not be any presentation/footage for The Hobbit showing up at Comic-Con this week and, secondly, let everyone know that instead, he's released another fantastic 13-minute (the longest one yet!) video blog for all of us to watch. It was only just a few weeks ago that he premiered his second blog, focused on location scouting in New Zealand and "block 1" of shooting, but this one is better than the last two. This time, we finally get to see lots of shooting and action and dwarves running around, plus hear from many of the actors, it's so good!

Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield from 'The Hobbit' Revealed

And finally, the biggest reveal of them all, it's our first official look at Richard Armitage as our dwarf hero Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain. The last of the company of dwarves from Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, and the leader of the company, as we've been revealing first looks throughout this last week. This reveal comes from TheOneRing.net, where they've amassed a complete rundown of the 13 dwarfs in the company, including details and photos for all. So when do we see a teaser?! As a young Dwarf prince, Thorin witnessed the terror when a great fire-breathing Dragon attacked Erebor...