As promised when the first poster unexpectedly journeyed online yesterday, the teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has arrived, along with no fewer than eight official images from the middle entry in this new Middle Earth trilogy.

Right in the middle of the summer event movie season, Warner Bros. is keen to remind moviegoers that this winter also brings a hugely expensive sequel based on a beloved property.

The first teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is now online, presaging the coming of the inaugural teaser trailer for the second installment of Peter Jackson's movie trilogy adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's introductory Middle Earth novel.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is bringing an entirely new character to Middle Earth, one not found in J.R.R Tolkien's original novel or any supplemental writings.

That character is the elf warrior Tauriel.  We've seen some blurry, unsanctioned images of her, but today brings the first crisp and official look at Evangeline Lilly in character.  Not only that, but the actress is offering a whole lot of teasing insight on Tauriel and her role in the story.

Pickups on the next two installments of The Hobbit Trilogy have commenced in New Zealand!

Truly sad news today.

The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation has announced that visual effects luminary Ray Harryhausen has passed away at the age of 92 in London, England.

If you bought The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Blu-ray or DVD, then you got an access code to participate in or just watch a big live event teasing the next installment in this three-movie adaptation of a fairly slight children's story, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

If you didn't buy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Warner Bros. still has you covered. A six-minute snippet of the live event is now available freely, allowing for a peek behind the scenes that includes looks at Luke Evans and Evangeline Lilly as new characters like Bard the Bowman and Tauriel the Elf.

One of 2012's biggest blockbusters brings the fantasy setting of Middle Earth into your living room this Tuesday, March 19th, as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives on both 2D and 3D Blu-ray, as well as DVD and digital download.

Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson made motion picture history a decade ago with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  Having redefined epic fantasy onscreen with that sprawling depiction of the War of the Ring and Frodo Baggins' desperate attempt to reach Mount Doom, Jackson returns to the vivid setting for this adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's first Middle Earth novel.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first in a prequel trilogy, to be followed by The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning March 19th is the box office smash The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Academy Award-winning directer Peter Jackson. The film is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the first chapter of its own trilogy, which will include the upcoming The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Martin Freeman (Love Actually) as young Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen (X2) as Gandalf the Grey, Cate Blanchett (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) as Galadriel, Hugo Weaving (Cloud Atlas) as Elrond, Christopher Lee (Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones) as Saruman the White, Sylvester McCoy (TV's Doctor Who) as Radagast the Brown, Ian Holm (Alien) as old Bilbo Baggins, Elijah Wood (Sin City) as Frodo Baggins, Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) as Gollum, Manu Bennett (TV's Spartacus: Blood and Sand) as Azog the Defiler, Lee Pace (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2) as the Elvenking Thranduil, Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as The Necromancer of Dol Guldur, Barry Humphries (Finding Nemo) as the Great Goblin, John Rawls (The Warrior's Way) as Yazneg, as well as Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Thorin Oakensheild, Graham McTavish (Rambo) as Dwalin, Ken Slott (Charlie Wilson's War) as Balin, Aidan Turner (TV's Being Human) as Kili, Dean O'Gorman (TV's Legend of the Seeker) as Fili, Mark Hadlow (King Kong) as Dori, Jed Brophy (District 9) as Nori, Adam Brown as Ori, John Callen as Oin, Peter Hambleton as Gloin, William Kircher (Out of the Blue) as Bifur, James Nesbitt (Match Point) as Bofur, and Stephen Hunter as Bombur, who all portray The Company of Dwarves. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with Martin Freeman to talk about his work on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The popular actor discussed the hit film, its new Blu-ray and DVD, preparing to take on the iconic role of Bilbo Baggins, not meeting Ian Holm until the film's theatrical premiere, his concerns about signing on to make three films, moving to New Zealand, working with Peter Jackson on the highly anticipated trilogy, how shooting in 3D and 48 fps affected him as an actor, the controversy over 48 fps, and why Peter Jackson can get away with pushing the filmmaking envelope.

When Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson teamed up for 2011's The Adventures of Tintin, it was with the promise that, for a sequel, the two would switch places, with Jackson directing and Spielberg producing another 3D motion-capture romp for the boy reporter.

So what gives?  When could Jackson find the time to actually make the next The Adventures of Tintin?

According to Spielberg, the hope is have the next film in theaters for the holiday season of 2015.

Let's keep this reasonably brief:

Warner Bros. has rescheduled the concluding installment in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, pushing The Hobbit: There and Back Again to December 17, 2014.