Get Your First Look at 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!'
by Shannon Keirnan
With the release of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” just around the corner now (December 14th, to be exact), it’s time to start stirring up interest in the other two films set to follow.
“The Hobbit” was originally set to be a two-parter, but Warner Bros. liked the first cut of “The Hobbit” so much they ordered another movie.
“It was announced to us the day of the wrap party,” says Martin Freeman, who plays the shy, peace-loving hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the series.
Thus, audiences can now expect “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” due a year from now, and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” in July of 2014.
This photo is the first look we get of “The Desolation of Smaug.” It’s not much, but it’s pretty safe to say that at some point in the sequel, they find the dragon’s hoard of gold.
Judging by the look on Bilbo’s face, they probably find Smaug as well.
Fans of the novel are both excited and concerned about how Smaug will be portrayed in the flick.
“The trouble with redesigning dragons is that if you really get fruity with it, it suddenly starts to look like some sort of monster from another planet — you very quickly can go into science-fiction territory,” director Peter Jackson said.
“I don’t want to do that. I mean, people expect a dragon. ‘The Hobbit’ is one of the most famous dragon stories in the world, really. So I’m not trying to step away from the dragon. I just want to present the most venal, scary, decrepit, nasty dragon that I possibly can.”
By Bilbo’s expression: Mission accomplished.
