The ridiculously successful The Lord of the Rings trilogy featured but one dwarf character – John Rhys Davies's indomitable, tossable Gimli – in its ensemble, but the prequel The Hobbit will feature many a dwarf across both films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  A brand spanking new image from An Unexpected Journey showcases just four of these appetitive, bearded dwarfs.

Last week, the first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey debuted online, causing the internet to collectively look down and say, "That'll do, Peter Jackson.  That'll do."  That trailer was a huge surprise in that it was not as teasery a teaser as everyone expected, given that the first half of the theatrical take on J.R.R. Tolkein's novel is still a year out from its release.  Now, Jackson and friends have released a new behind the scenes production video, the fifth in an ongoing series, that shows even more of Middle Earth. Specifically, it takes viewers through the exteriors of Tolkein's realm, once again portrayed by the landscapes of Jackson's native New Zealand.  Now inextricably connected to The Lord of the Rings, the nation is again home to hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, and all manner of magical goings on. 

As last month came to a close, a very trusty rumor suggested that The Adventures of Tintin's Stateside release would include the first trailer for our next cinematic jaunt to JRR Tolkein's Middle Earth.  That rumor came from no less a source than Elijah Wood, who reprises his The Lord of the Rings role as Frodo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and it just made sense.  We're a year out from the first prequel's theatrical date, and The Adventures of Tintin is produced by Peter Jackson, who is once again adapting Tolkein's material with the two-part take on The Hobbit.  Now, Warner Bros. has helpfully confirmed that the new film by Steven Spielberg will indeed by preceded by our first look at The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

For his next venture into JRR Tolkein's Middle-Earth, the two-part The Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit, director Peter Jackson divided the massive production into three distinct sections, with extended breaks in between.  Tight now, the New Zealand-based production is in the midst of a section devoted to location shooting of exteriors, and a new batch of photos from the set provides an extensive look at Hobbiton, which is location in Matamata, Waikato, New Zealand.  The familiar setting is enough to get a fan's motor running, but you can also get a look at Elijah Wood reprising his role as Frodo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

Opening in theaters on August 5th is the long awaited new film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a prequel/reboot of the classic Charlton Heston sci-fi series.The film is directed by Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) and promises to tell the story of how our Earth was taken over by super-intelligent primates and became the futuristic, Ape-controlled Earth that Heston discovers in the original film. The movie features an all-star cast that includes Academy Award nominated actor James Franco (Spider-Man), Frieda Pinto (Immortals), Tom Felton (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Brian Cox (X2: X-Men United), John Lithgow (Shrek), and motion-capture actor Andy Serkis (King Kong, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) as Caesar, the future leader of the apes revolution.

IAR's Jami Philbrick had a chance to catch up with director Rupert Wyatt, and actor Andy Serkis at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego last month to discuss the new film, Serkis' experience portraying primates on screen, and exactly how this film will line up with the other movies in the franchise.

In 1977, Star Wars irrevocably changed the look and feel of cinematic science fiction.  The influence of George Lucas' storytelling and his "used future" philosophy of production design is still evident on any number of huge movies, including Peter Jackson's take on JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings Star Wars trilogy.  Much like before it, that fantasy trilogy has changed the way modern audiences perceive the genre, and seemingly every subsequent fantasy film owes a debt to the saga of the One Ring.  As Universal prepares to commence production on Snow White and the Huntsman, the studio prepared a panel presentation for San Diego Comic-Con, and its evident that this film will be a Lord of the Rings-flavored take on the familiar fairy tale.

The panel included in person appearances from director Rupert Sanders, along with producers Joe Roth and Palak Patel, as well as principal cast members Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron (making her second panel appearance after Thursday's Prometheus event), and Sam Claflin. 

A decade ago, in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the only dwarf we really got to know across three epic films was Gimli son of Gloin (John Rhys-Davies), a boisterous dwarf who didn't like to be tossed, but knew when it was necessary.  While Frodo's quest involved all manner of races from Middle Earth, the unexpected journey undertaken by Billbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey finds him accompanied by no less than thirteen dwarves.  We've seen some of these dwarves sitting out of focus in the background of Bag End, but a new image from The Hobbit reveals dwarf brothers Nori, Ori and Ori with crystal clarity.

By the time the two-part prequel The Hobbit finishes principal production, 1 out of every 6 living humans will have a substantial role in one installment or the other.  Last week, Luke Evans joined the cast as Bard the Bowman, and Benedict Cumberbatch was confirmed as the voice of Smaug and the Necromancer.  Now, Peter Jackson is kicking off this week by announcing the addition of Lost star Evangeline Lilly and Australian Dame Edna actor Barry Humphries.  Lilly is set to play Tauriel, a Woodland Elf created for the film, while Humphries will play the Goblin King via motion capture.

The Hobbit, Peter Jackson's two-part adaptation of the Lord of the Rings prequel novel by JRR Tolkein, has been in production for almost three months now, but a major role had, until today, yet to be cast.  The role in question is Bard the Bowman, the last king of Dale, a small city of men in Middle Earth.  The grim-faced Bard, who will play a major part in the second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, will be played by Welsh actor Luke Evans.

Through the five original films in the Planet of the Apes franchise, the short-lived 1974 television series, and Tim Burton's 2001 remake, the hyper-intelligent simian stars have been created using prosthetics and makeup effects.  For this summer's prequel/do-over Rise of the Planet of the Apes, however, director Rupert Wyatt opted instead to create every single ape using motion capture, with Weta Digital providing CGI apes.  The film's new theatrical trailer just dropped, and it offers our best look yet at ape-revolutionary Caesar and James Franco in scientist mode.  Give it a watch.