A press release issued by Warner Bros. today has confirmed that the studio has plans to release an extended version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, presumably to tie-in with the release of The Desolation of Smaug next year. With director Peter Jackson making the decision to turn the two films into a trilogy, you wouldn't think there would be enough footage left over for an extended edition, but this shouldn't come as too much as a surprise (especially as they proved to be extremely successful for the three The Lord of the Rings instalments). Below is an excerpt from the press release (via TheOneRing.net) and some new character designs on t-shirt's for An Unexpected Journey. Many thanks to Twitter's @JonasRJakobsen for the heads up.
And finally, among the new films you can expect on Blu-ray and DVD in 2013 are The Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas and – officially confirmed here for the first time – Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Extended Edition (Q4). One suspects a theatrical cut will be released earlier in 2013, following the home video release pattern of the previous Lord of the Rings films. And it’s reasonable to suspect that a Blu-ray 3D version will be forthcoming as well.
The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.
Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever…Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
STARRING:
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
Andy Serkis as Gollum
Hugo Weaving as Elrond
Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug
Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman
Christopher Lee as Saruman the White
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
Orlando Bloom as Legolas
RELEASE DATE: December 14th, 2012.
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