As we head into the Holidays and even Oscar season, 2012 won’t come to a close without the premiere of the most anticipated features of the year: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Kicking off a trilogy of prequels to the Lord of the Rings series that concluded with a Best Picture win, we’ve received plenty of trailers and promotional images to last us this long but Warner Brothers seems to be ready to kick marketing into high gear. Now, the studio has released not only the first television spot for your viewing pleasure but also they’ve confirmed the running time while a special menu of fantasy-related food will be waiting for you right after Halloween.
Along with the TV spot, director Peter Jackson has announced that fans are in for quite the extended introduction as the first installment of the trilogy clocks in at 164 minutes (2hr 44min). With an unofficial extended edition coming next year and Jackson shooting even more footage to accommodate the third film expansion, it looks like fans of the original trio are in for just as lengthy of a treat this time around.
But it seems fans who have a hunger for Middle-Earth will get to fill at least part of their appetite in the new two weeks. Denny’s has revealed a Hobbit-themed menu that features “a diverse selection of eleven new breakfast, lunch and dinner menu offerings including the “Hobbit Hole Breakfast,” “Frodo’s Pot Roast Skillet,” and “Build Your Own Hobbit Slam,” which includes new limited time holiday favorites such as “Pumpkin Patch Pancakes,” “Shire Sausage,” and “Seed Cake French Toast.”
The menu kicks off at Denny’s restaurants nationwide on November 6th and will last until the second week of January. Here’s the menu itself (click for a larger look):
The first film follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever…Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities…A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, starring Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Ian McKellan, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Hugo Weaving, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mikael Persbrandt, Lee Pace, Stephen Fry, Cate Blanchett, and many more, and directed by Peter Jackson, will hit theaters on December 14th.
