The trailer, which hit the web Wednesday during what Jackson promised on Facebook was going to be “a very interesting week” for Hobbit and J.R.R. Tolkien fans, couldn’t come at a better time. With the exception of the massive 12-minute sneak peek the director gave fans at Comic-Con International in July, there hasn’t been much coming out of Middle-earth in recent months, except for news about how much theater space the 48-frames-per-second version of the film will get and a confirmation that the tale will indeed span three movies.
Maybe the recent quiet from the Jackson camp just means the director has been fine-tuning the first part of a new three-peat masterpiece.
Luckily, this trailer delivers. Beginning with Bilbo Baggins’ reluctance to join Gandalf and the dwarves and ending with some fantastic flashes of his quest with the Ring, the new clip covers a lot of ground in just over two minutes. It also, surprisingly, shows quite a bit of footage that, if memory serves, wasn’t shown at Comic-Con. And what does reappear here from the con — like Bilbo’s endearing game of riddles with Gollum — deserves to be seen by everyone who wasn’t able to make the epic journey into Hall H this summer.
Interestingly, the “official” trailer isn’t the only version: The film’s website is currently offering a choose-your-own-adventure-style trailer generator that lets fans add different endings to the clip based on which character they follow.
Do what you want, but we’re choosing the Bilbo path. After all, it’s his birthday (and Hobbit Day) this Saturday.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits theaters Dec. 14.
