Here are the first released Hobbit pictures:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20504849,00.html

Cool

Wonder what PJ's cameo will be this time? And talking of PJ, looks like he's piled the pounds back on - he was really skinny when he first started working on TH

Maybe Directing a massive film like the Hobbit stresses him out

lol. Or maybe he's gotten into the Hobbit spirit too much and is following a Hobbit diet plan

He wants to be a 'Stupid fat hobbitses'.

Has the part of Bombur been cast yet? If not, maybe that's going to be his cameo

Bomburs already been cast as Stephen Hunter.

Never heard of him

He's only done 8 things in the past 16 years all of which I've never heard of

Show off

No, just IMDb in another tab

I repeat, show off

i concur.......show off

What an experience that would be, to go the the world premier of the Hobbit. If only money wasn't an issue...

I imagine most of you will have seen these already but as no-one has posted them yet I thought be useful to have here. For anyone who hasn't watched any of these - DO IT NOW!

Production Diary 1
Production Diary 2
Production Diary 3
Production Diary 4

Hobbit Trailer

Bilbo and the spiders.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32799


If 'rumours' are true, Sauron will be at the BotFA.



Personally, I think the article writer has blown things out of proportion and the interviewed actor hasn't got a clue what he's talking about.

While I agree that Cumberbatch doesn't have a clue, this really doesn't seem that dissimilar to certain things Jackson has tried in the past (Sauron at the Black Gate/Arwen at Helm's Deep). I'd have hoped that splitting TH into two films would have eliminated the need to do something as drastic as combining BotFA and the Fall of Dol Guldur into one event but stranger things have happened. As you said though this is still mere speculation and it’s possible that, even if true, as with the aforementioned examples the community response will be enough to enact a purge.

That's a good point, but at least Sauron at the Black Gate makes some sort of sense - the Black Gate was practically Sauron's front door and the march on it was a direct challenge ot Sauron's honour, so it wouldn't have been too unrealistic for him to have shown up - in fact there is precendant; in the silmarillion he came our to meet Luthien and Huan in open combat (albiet after he ran out of werewolves to send in first). But showing up at the BotFA doesn't really work - Erebor is several leagues north east of Dol Guldur, so it'd be a major detour for him to go there.

True, but at the time of BotFA - or at least, assuming the film's timeline doesn't have him banished to Mordor before then - he was still maintaining some kind of physical presence as the Necromancer. When we get to WotR, Sauron seems to have resigned himself to the far less imminent role of a "great eye, wreathed with flame". In this regard, it makes more sense for a physical embodiment of Sauron to make a physical appearance at BotFA than it does for him to stroll out at the Black Gate given his form atop Barad dur.

Actually, the flaming eye thing is a PJ invention - the books never specifically say, although the implication lean towards him having a body during LotR (Gollum says 'he has four fingers on his black hand' for example). And in the book timeline, he's ousted from Dol Guldur before the BotFA - Gandlaf doesn't show up at Erebor until after the Necromancer is defeated and driven out.

I was under the impression that the books do refer to "the Great Eye", "the Eye of Sauron" etc and assumed that the fiery eye atop Barad dur was infered from such references. In any case, the Gollum quote does imply a physical Sauron during WotR.

The books of course have Dol Guludur falling before BotFA but PJ has never been one to adhere strictly to those timelines.

I've always taken the 'Eye' references to be more metaphorical than literal especially as The Eye is Sauron's symbol, plus he owned at least one Palantir so it's entirely possible that references to the eye and Sauron seeing far actually refered to the Palantir/him using Palatiri. Also, as I rcall, when Frodo is in Cirith Ungol, it's made mention that Sauron may come for Frodo in person - bit had to do if he were a giant flaming eyeball atop Barad-dur