The Hobbit TV spot gives us our first look at Smaug

Over the past few months, we've been inundated with promotional material from Peter Jackson's epic Tolkien adaptation The Hobbit, but so far Jackson and company have done a fine job of keeping the film's fearsome dragon Smaug under wraps. However, with the first instalment of the upcoming trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, now just under two weeks away from release, a TV spot has given us our first look at the mighty antagonist, who will be voiced in the film by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness).

You might have seen this in shoddy bootleg quality earlier this week, but now a much better version has made its way online, and you can check it out right here (via ComicBookMovie)...


The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sees Martin Freeman leading the cast as Bilbo Baggins alongside Middle-earth veterans Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Andy Serkis (Gollum), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Ian Holm (Old Bilbo). The film opens on December 13th in the UK and December 14th in North America, with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug following on December 13th, 2013 and The Hobbit: There and Back Again concluding the trilogy on July 18th, 2014.