Photos From THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY London Press Conference

hope to have a full recap of the press conference up by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest - it lasted for nearly an hour and is going to take a while to transcribe! While there were no major revelations as such at the event (which took place in the rather swanky Ballroom at Claridge's in London), it was still an extremely interesting and surprisingly hilarious way to spend the morning. Peter Jackson's comment about Sir Ian McKellen's favourite dwarves being the ones on their knees was a particularly funny tongue-in-cheek moment shared between the two long-time collaborators. In fact, actually seeing this incredible ensemble together all in one room made it clear that it's not just in the movie that they all share a great deal of chemistry. The fact that we're now getting THREE movies out of the adaptation rather than just the two couldn't make me happier at this point. Warner Bros. were also kind enough to give those in attendance a goody bag containing a notebook, pen, mouse mat and action figure, and I'll be sure to include some shots of those when the recap goes live. For now, here are a selection of the photos I was able to take!

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome 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 Oakenshield. 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.