28/12 The Front Pages

The first images from Peter Jackson’s two-part adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit have surfaced online, as Sir Ian McKellen’s Gandalf has taken the cover of this month’s Empire Magazine.

McKellen returns as the wizard Gandalf, the iconic character he played in Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Martin Freeman, who recently won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the BBC series Sherlock, takes on the central role of a young Bilbo Baggins. Both feature on the cover of movie magazine Empire's 'August 2011' issue, released later this week.

The Empire story features on-set photos and a set visit report, while US readers will find their own exclusive images from the latest edition of Entertainment Weekly.

According to the studio's official synopsis, The Hobbit's two installments 'are set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien’s 'The Lord of the Rings' which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In addition to Sir Ian McKellen, other actors reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings movies include Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo, Christopher Lee as Saruman, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Elijah Wood as Frodo and Andy Serkis as Gollum.

The first film, titled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will be released on December 14, 2012. The second film, titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release the following year, on December 13, 2013.