New Poster For 'The Hobbit' Unveiled, In Time For Comic-con

A new poster has been unveiled for The Hobbit, which finished filming last Friday (July 6, 2012). The promotional image has been released just in time for this year's Comic-Con, and in the words of E! Online, who have published the image, "middle earth has never looked better." Utilising the same font as the Lord of the Rings movie franchise, the poster depicts the sun bursting through dark clouds, over lush green countryside. In the forefront of the picture is not Martin Freeman, who plays the role of Bilbo Baggins, but Sir Ian McKellan, who plays Gandalf The Grey.

Director Peter Jackson has already teased fans of the movie with footage, at this year's CinemaCon and it's expected that he shall do the same at ComicCon, before hitting the cutting room to start making the final changes to the highly anticipated movie. With its full title, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the film is scheduled for release in December 2012. The follow-up, The Hobbit" There and Back Again is expected to be released the following year.

The movies are a prequel to the already hugely successful Lord of the Rings franchise, based on the novels by JRR Tolkien. They tell the story of Bilbo, Gandalf and 13 dwarves setting out on an adventure to the Lonely Mountain, to reclaim possession of treasure stolen by the dragon Smaug. The Hobbit also stars Elijah Wood, Billy Connolly, Cate Blanchett and ORLANDO BLOOM.