The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

"Mr. Bilbo, where are you going?" "Can't stop now. I'm already late." "Late for what?" "I'm going on an adventure!"

- Mr. Worrywort and Bilbo Baggins

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a 2012 fantasy adventure film and is the first of the three Hobbit series. The film itself is based on the first five chapters of The Hobbit

The film starred Martin Freeman as young Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, Ian McKellen reprising his role as Gandalf the Grey. Actors such as Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee and Elijah Wood reprised their roles as Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman, and Frodo Baggins.

This movie also acts as a prequel to the entire Lord of the Rings series

Official Plot Summary/Synopsis
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the 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.

Cast

 * Thorin and Company
 * Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
 * Ian McKellen as Gandalf
 * Richard Armitage as Thorin II Oakenshield
 * Ken Stott as Balin
 * Graham McTavish as Dwalin
 * William Kircher as Bifur
 * James Nesbitt as Bofur
 * Stephen Hunter as Bombur
 * Dean O'Gorman as Fíli
 * Aidan Turner as Kíli
 * John Callen as Óin
 * Peter Hambleton as Glóin
 * Jed Brophy as Nori
 * Mark Hadlow as Dori
 * Adam Brown as Ori


 * Minor


 * Ian Holm as Old Bilbo
 * Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
 * Hugo Weaving as Elrond
 * Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
 * Christopher Lee as Saruman
 * Andy Serkis as Gollum
 * Sylvester McCoy as Radagast
 * Barry Humphries as Great Goblin
 * Jeffrey Thomas as Thrór
 * Michael Mizrahi as Thráin
 * Lee Pace as Thranduil
 * Manu Bennett as Azog
 * Conan Stevens as Bolg
 * John Rawls as Yazneg
 * Stephen Ure as Fimbul
 * Timothy Bartlett as Master Worrywort
 * William Kircher as Tom
 * Peter Hambleton as Bert
 * Mark Hadlow as William
 * Bret McKenzie as Lindir
 * Stephen Ure as Grinnah
 * Kiran Shah as Goblin Scribe
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as the Necromancer and Smaug
 * Glenn Boswell as Dwarf Miner
 * Thomas Robins as Young Thrain
 * Luke Evans as Girion
 * Dan Hennah as The Old Took
 * Stephen Gledhill as Old Gammidge
 * Tim Gordon as Old Hob
 * Oscar Strik as Little Bilbo
 * Sonia Forbes-Adam as Belladonna (Took) Baggins
 * Erin Banks as Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
 * Brian Hotter as Otho Sackville-Baggins
 * Eric Vespe as Fredegar Chubb
 * Mervyn Smith as Tosser Grubb
 * Ruby Acevedo as Cute Young Hobbits
 * Luc Campbell
 * Culain McGhie
 * Rose Harnett
 * Katie Jackson
 * Eloise Masters
 * Eva Matthews
 * Ollie Matthews
 * Honor McTavish
 * Isaac Miller
 * Ella Olssen
 * Sabin Olssen
 * Findlay Price
 * Nancy Ruck
 * Louis Serkis
 * Ruby Serkis
 * Sonny Serkis
 * Amelia Taylor
 * Samuel Taylor
 * Ruby Vincent
 * Tui Vincent

Production information
The project first was started in the late 1990s where Peter Jackson intended on doing the first film that would become The Fellowship of the Ring would be the entire Hobbit novel and the last two would focus on The Fellowship of the Ring (which would become the Two Towers) and the last one on The Return of the King (which would become the film it is today.). However, it was ultimately decided that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey would be produced as a two-part series. However, wanting to expand on the films more, Jackson created it to be three parts, with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, along with two more films: The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of Five Armies (which was named There and Back Again at the time.

Del Toro left the project in May 2010, after about two years of working with Jackson and his production team, due to delays caused in part by financial problems at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Later, Jackson was named the director  in October.

In the future, An Unexpected Journey to the Battle of the Five Armies,  Bilbo Baggins' and Thorin Oakenshield were the main focus of the series, as such their relationship as the "heart of the film"

Trivia

 * Bilbo is on all of the film theatrical posters. However only this movie and The Battle of the Five Armies were the ones that solely featured Bilbo in it.