This is it. The official Twitter account of "The Hobbit" film franchise recently unveiled its first official poster for the third installment of its franchise titled "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," and boy, it was something to behold.
The poster featured the greedy and gold-hungry, fire-breathing dragon, Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), as he lays havoc to the small Waterworld-like city which serves as the home of Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans). With his back to the camera, Evans' character faces the scary dragon, with his claws destroying away houses in his wake and his spiky tail making that evil curve.
According to FirstShowing.net, the poster came with a message which read, "#SDCC attendees, join us for a 1st look at #TheHobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies this Saturday at 10am in Hall H!"
The poster served as Warner Bros' teaser for fans who will be attending this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. Considered as one of the biggest trade conferences in the world to boot, it is expected that producers of "The Hobbit" franchise will go all the way, including debuting the official trailer of the film, to ensure that they get the most audience visits as they can. They have to compete with some of the biggest debuts in the conference, Mirror UK said.
Bard the Bowman is expected to play a major role in the eventual slaying of Smaug, who has long terrorized Erebor as he claimed the Dwarves' dwelling as his home, thanks to the massive treasure pile the little men has compiled. In "The Desolation of Smaug," we are left with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) trying to retrieve the Arkenstone, which is said to be the Thorin Oakenshield's (Richard Armitage) family heirloom. In Laketown, Bard, who is housing some of the dwarves who had fallen behind due to Kili's (Aidan Turner) injuries, is imprisoned by unfair guards when the former tries to retrieve the only thing that could penetrate Smaug's tough skin: black arrows specifically forged to kill the dragon.
Variety said that the making of the third installment of "the Hobbit" film series encountered a little snag when Jackson announced in April that they have changed the original title "There And Back Again," to "The Battle of the Five Armies." On the other hand, the renaming of the third film might be a smart marketing move, considering the fact that the original title seems to be reserved for those 90s magical fantasy films.
Moreover, Jackson also revealed that there will be an extended cut version to the "Desolation of Smaug," which will be all 25 minutes of Tolkien fantasy glory. There is no word yet on when it will debut, but we are betting Jackson might provide a sneak peak at Comic-Con.