THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Running Time Revealed; Smaug To Appear


Fans have long wondered how long the first instalment in The Hobbit trilogy would be, pondering the thought of whether it would match or outrun the Lord of the Rings movies, and now it seems Peter Jackson has provided an answer. Speaking in the latest issue of Empire, the magazine caught up with Jackson to find out just how long An Unexpected Journey will really be…

“It’s looking like it’s going to be about ten minutes shorter than Fellowship was. So it’s going to be officially our shortest Middle Earth yet. I mean, Fellowship was just under three hours and this is about 2 hours 40 minutes at the moment.

Because of their decision to make a third movie, it seems this instalment was originally going to be much longer. One of the greatest things about the Middle Earth movies are there length, and it’s great to see that Peter Jackson is making these movies no exceptions. Wanna hear some more Hobbit goodies? Read on…

In the same issue, despite the title of the second movie being called The Desolation of Smaug, Jackson revealed that Smaug the Dragon (who is being voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) WILL appear in the first movie. He went on to say that he will “remain as liquid tongued as the book’s memorable villain (he is a character not a monster),” and that Smaug will appear in the film’s prologue. There’s still tons more, so be sure to pick up the latest issue of Empire for 60 pages of Hobbit goodness.

Are you pleased about the film’s running time? What do you think about Smaug popping up in An Unexpected Journey? Share your thoughts below.

SOURCE: Empire via CBM