Excited fans have been anticipating the sneak peek of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: There and Back Again at this year’s CinemaCon. The Hobbit: There and Back Again was included in a big presentation by Warner Bros’ at the Las Vegas event on Thursday, March 27, 2014.
AceShowbiz reported that The Hobbit footage was shown near the end of the presentation. Peter Jackson recorded a special message for the occasion. According to EmpireOnline, the CinemaCon crowd was treated to a reel that celebrated Jackson’s 16 years of work in Middle-earth. The video ended with Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellan) saying, “The time is upon us when all must choose what side we’re on.”
The Herald Sun News reported that actor Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield) was on hand for the event, and said of the approaching release of Jackson’s final Middle-earth film, “I think there is going to be a huge amount of sorrow and nostalgia going on in Peter Jackson’s mind because he has lived in Middle-earth for what, 13 years.”
Actor Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield) attended CinemaCon 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Photo credit: Gettyimages, via richardarmitagecentral.co.uk.
There have been persistent rumors that The Hobbit cast will return for more pick-up filming in the coming months. However, in reference to work that remains to be done on The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Richard Armitage told the Herald Sun News “We are done with filming and they have a bit of motion capture left to do and I have a lot of post-production voice-synching.” The actor’s statement would appear to put the pick-up filming rumors to rest, at least as far as the main cast’s involvement in any more filming is concerned.
In the wake of Thursday’s CinemaCon event, The Australian reported that Peter Jackson is to screen an early cut of The Hobbit: There and Back Again for Warner Bros. executives next week in New Zealand. Fans, however, will have to wait a while longer.
Middle-earth News coverage of CinemaCon 2013 can be found here.
