Hobbit Global Fan Celebration Event Planned

Director Peter Jackson has announced plans to preview footage from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at a “global fan celebration” on 4 November that will be simulcast in theatres and feature interviews with cast members including Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace and Luke Evans.

Jackson and cast members will gather at satellite-linked theatres in Los Angeles, New York, London and Wellington to screen footage from the 13 December release and answer questions in front of a live audience

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will host the event from New York, where actors Richard Armitage, who plays dwarf Thorin Oakenshield, and Bloom, who is set to reprise his Lord of the Rings role as Legolas Greenleaf, are set to appear.

Jackson will be beamed in from Wellington.

The Desolation of Smaug is Part 2 in Jackson’s new Tolkien trilogy, and the film picks up where last year’s box-office hit The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey left off.

Like its predecessor, The Desolation of Smaug was shot in 3-D at 48 frames per second and will be released in 2-D, High Frame Rate 3-D, other 3-D formats and IMAX.