Viral Video: First Trailer for “The Hobbit” Movie

Since about 2004, the holiday season has been missing a little something. During the prior three years, I had become accustomed to standing in line to see a “Lord of the Rings” movie. But there were only three of them and, well, once the trilogy was done, it was done. Ever since, I’ve kind of moped a bit without a cinematic trip to Middle Earth to look forward to.

I’ve seen two performances of The Lord of the Rings in Concert, which is great fun and has been at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in previous autumns. But not this year.

But next year — and the year after that — I can renew my Hobbit habit. Yesterday the trailer for the first of two films based on “The Hobbit” hit the Internet. This one will be called “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and will be in 3-D. It will cover roughly the first half of the J.R.R. Tolkien novel that predates the “Lord” trilogy, and includes the finding of the ring that’s central to the later story. Also there’s one surprise: The trailer sure makes it look like Gandalf and Galadriel are, or once were, an item. I sure don’t remember that from the books.

We here at AllThingsD have been paying close attention to the progress of these films, hanging on every video-blog posting by famed director Peter Jackson. (And if you haven’t seen them, they’re very fun to watch: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.) I don’t think I’m the only member of the team that has a Hobbit habit. But I’m probably the only one who will admit it.

Anyhow, here’s the trailer. Enjoy: