The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Sneak Preview

For those fans of The Hobbit who purchased the film on Blu-Ray/DVD this past week, Peter Jackson held an exclusive, live streaming event to talk about the next film in the trilogy: The Desolation of Smaug.



The event began with Jed Brophy, who plays Nori in the film, and director Peter Jackson taking a look at the post-production of the film, visiting the motion-capture studio to take a look at a scene involving Azog the Defiler commanding an orcish archer. After a short tour around the studio, Peter Jackson and Jed Brophy sat down in the editing room to answer some video and twitter questions, which is where all the good stuff was revealed.

The first big thing to talk about is Legolas. As Tolkien aficionados will tell you, Thranduil (the elf king from the beginning of An Unexpected Journey riding the elk, who turned away from the helpless dwarves) is the father of Legolas, which is where Orlando Bloom's character comes in. Some unedited, behind-the-scenes glimpses of Legolas were shown, which involved conversations between the elven prince and king, and some combat as well.

Along with some glimpses at Legolas, another very important character was seen for the first time during the event. Luke Evans' portrayal of Bard the Bowman was seen for the first time in costume during a scene involving Bilbo and the dwarves traveling down the river. There were also some looks at Laketown and the land of men explored in the second film. Jackson also promised that the Necromancer will play a bigger role as the series progresses.

When asked about his favorite scene in the film, Peter Jackson stated that he was most looking forward to Bilbo's first encounter with Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, who will also provide the voice for the Necromancer). A very brief glimpse of Bilbo wading through Smaug's treasure was shown as well.

After showing off all of the great sets and behind-the-scenes videos, Peter Jackson also revealed some great concept art for Mirkwood and the elven kingdom. He spoke about how, much like in the book, this land would be dark and almost subterranean-looking, despite all previous views of elves being of the luxurious and serene Rivendale.

Mirkwood concept art

The entrance to Thranduil's land

Inside the elven kingdom

There were also a bunch of video messages from cast members and notable fans. Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, and Evangeline Lilly (who appears as a brand new elf character in The Desolation of Smaug) showed up to talk about their parts in the new film, while Dom Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin) gave their blessings to the newest installment. Stephen Colbert also made an appearance to ask a question about Thranduil and Legolas' heritage and how it will be addressed.

By far the most exciting part of the event, however, was the exclusive look at the next film. Jackson stated that the trailer is not yet complete, but will be released this summer, so instead viewers were shown a clip from the movie.

The scene involved Gandalf's investigation into the appearance of the strange Morgul-blade given to him by Radagast. As we saw in An Unexpected Journey, Galadriel confirmed that it belonged to the long dead Witch-King of Angmar, whose grave lie hidden deep within the mountains. The scene showed Gandalf investigating the desecrated tomb, where he discovers that a new enemy may be rising.

Gandalf investigates the tomb of the Witch-King