'The Hobbit' Trailer Takes Bilbo & Company on an 'Unexpected Journey' (Video)

Warner Bros.

Nearly all the old elements are back: the magnificent vistas, darkened caves, gregarious dwarves, a creeping ring-coveter, a glowing Cate Blanchett and a powerful greying wizard. Add in a hairy-footed Watson from Sherlock, and you've got a hot preview for the new set of chapters in Peter Jackson's epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's adventure series.

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Behold the second trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is now the first of three films in the prequel to the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings saga. Starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins (and Frodo's forerunner), the film details a band of dwarves' quest to retake the Lonely Mountain and their treasure from the dragon Smaug (who is, coincidentally, voiced by Freeman's Sherlock partner, Benedict Cumberbatch).

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Though the YouTube trailer offers plenty of breathtaking visuals, there has already been some rumbling controversy around the high-speed cameras Jackson used to make the film, and Warner Bros. will limit the number of theaters that will see it in 48 fps. 

The film hits theaters in December.