Last night, we got a crop of new character posters for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but Warner Bros. is showing no signs of slowing down on their massive marketing campaign for the film. A final theatrical poster for the medieval fantasy epic hit the web today, highlighting the film’s battle-ready main cast. Additionally, a new trailer for the film debuted today as well, clocking in at over three minutes.
My first thought after seeing that poster: they really could have used a few more archers. But seriously, the poster does a commendable job of communicating the film’s air of mystery and adventure, while continuing to tease its most anticipated special effect: the titular fire-breather himself.
Smaug has been curiously missing in action throughout The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug‘s marketing campaign, which is either an attempt to increase excitement for the creature’s debut or conceal a lackluster effect. Given the massive amount of money Warner Bros. has poured into this franchise though, I’d bet on the former.
Luckily, the poster does show us the majority of the new characters, including Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans), Elvenking Thranduil (Lee Pace) and Elven archer Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly). Additionally, the image features Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), protagonist Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and Lord of the Rings hold-over Legolas (Orlando Bloom).
Warner Bros. also released a new, three-minute trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug today, which highlights a lot of those fresh faces. Evans’ Bard the Bowman gets the most screen-time, providing an eerily poetic warning to Thorin about the dangers of disturbing the red dragon. It’s an absurdly packed trailer but also the best one yet, capturing the film’s epic scale and visual splendor without sacrificing any of its sense of mystery and wonder. Smaug still remains in the shadows, though voice-actor Benedict Cumberbatch teases us with a suitably terrifying declaration from the dragon: “I am king of the mountain.”
Check it out below:
The official plot synopsis for the film reads as follows:
Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all — a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself — the Dragon Smaug.
Will you be checking out The Desolation of Smaug, or are you not a fan of Jackson’s new trilogy? Sound off in the comments section!
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits theaters in IMAX 3D and 48fps on December 13th.
