We don’t know about you, but we’ve always thought J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit was missing something. Sure, it’s a hugely successful, classic book with amazing characters and visuals. But we still feel like something is missing. What is that something you ask? A love story.

Apparently, Peter Jackson thinks so too, at least according to the newly released trailer for part two of his The Hobbit big screen trilogy. Thank goodness as it gives Orlando Bloom and Lost alumni Evangiine Lilly something to do besides shooting orcs with arrows.

But wait, there’s more. We also get a glimpse of what we think is probably the more important character in this tale: Smaug himself.

Yep, there be dragons (well, one anyway) and he looks pretty cool. Still not convinced this had to be three movies but we are convinced that nobody does Middle Earth like Peter Jackson. So, benefit of the doubt extended.

Check out the trailer after the break. (and yes, we’re joking about the love story).

No two ways about it, this movie looks pretty cool. And speaking of the number two, we’ve got two, count ’em, two trailers from it to share with you today so you know just how cool it is.

Set in Viking Britain in 871 AD, Hammer of the Gods is “a visceral, intense tale set in a world whose only language is violence. A young Viking warrior, Steinar (Charlie Bewley), is sent by his father the king on a quest to find his estranged brother, who was banished from the kingdom many years before.

Steinar’s epic journey across terrifyingly hostile territory gradually sees him emerge as the man his father wants him to be – the ruthless and unforgiving successor to his throne.” See what we mean?

Magnet Releasing will release Hammer of the Gods on VOD/iTunes May 30 and in theaters July 5. Check out both trailer after the break. Which one do you like better?

It’s been nearly ten years since Middle Earth unfurled across the screen, and in that time, the Lord of the Rings films have cemented their place in cinematic history. The actors have aged, technology has evolved, and the influence of Peter Jackson’s trilogy is evidenced in all the three-plus-hour epics we’ve seen over the past decade.

Jackson slips back into this world seamlessly, elevating the grandeur but also reigning it in; instead of army battles and global chaos pitting kings against wizards and demons, this is a merrier tale of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and a band of dwarves hunting a lost treasure guarded by the fierce dragon Smaug.

Smaug, we’re told (and cleverly not shown until the very end) attacked the thriving dwarf city of Erebor years ago, evicting dwarven kind from their homeland (writing that I’m starting to wonder if there’s a parable here, big noses and all…) and forcing them to have it out with every other race in Middle Earth, from the orcs at Moria (the chief of whom kills the leader dwarf, Thorin’s, grandfather and becomes the main antagonist) to the elves at, uh, Elvania (the elves chose not to help the dwarves in the battle against Smaug).

This is going to be one of those films that either finds it’s very specific audience, or will go down as the less remembered  cinematic soul mate of The Brothers Grimm, either way this film has an up hill battle to wage this January.

A new international trailer as hit, and unfortunately it still looks like a head scratching decision for just about everyone involved. For those who have remained blissfully unaware of this impending film, here is its unflinchingly lengthy synopsis:

Catching up with Hansel (Renner) and Gretel (Arterton) 15 years after the traumatic incident involving a gingerbread house, the siblings have evolved into vengeful bounty hunters dedicated to exterminating witches. Over the years, the siblings became expert hunters, famous for their proficiency at tracking and taking down their prey. Although still recovering from their ordeal, their work is relatively easy as for an unknown reason harmful spells and curses do not work well against them.

The Mayor of Augsburg recruits them to rid the town and nearby forests of an evil sorceress (Janssen) who is planning to sacrifice many local children at the witches’ gathering during the upcoming ‘Blood Moon’ night in two days time. To make things worse, the duo also has to deal with the brutal Sheriff Berringer (Stormare) who has taken power in Augsburg and conducts a very indiscriminate witch-hunt of his own.

You can see the new trailer after the jump.

The Hobbit is now a trilogy, we all know that now and most of us have made our peace with that very surprising news. Where there were two films now there are three, and one of the more important and simple things a film needs when it is announced is a title and a release date. Few films are brazen enough to release with out a title and a release date, and it seems the third Hobbit will not be as well.

The third film will now be known as The Hobbit: There and Back Again, sharp readers will no doubt recognize that title as the one for the second Hobbit film. Seeing as how that title has some sense of finality to it, they shipped it over to the third film which means the second film will now need a new moniker, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smuag.

This new title was expected, but it does seem to confirm how Peter Jackson and company are splitting the known portion of the narrative. The second film will likely climax with the confrontation with the dragon Smaug and the third film will be the epic Battle of the Five Armies. It was always considered tricky how they would do both justice in one film, so there is a small since relief knowing that both rather large events will have time to breathe on-screen.

As for the release date, the third and final(?) Hobbit film will buck all trends and reason and release July 18th 2014. This allows a Peter Jackson middle earth film to test the Summer blockbuster waters for the first time ever.

Stay tuned to The Flickcast for any more Hobbit based news bits as the first film gets closer and closer.