Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" won't arrive in theaters until a year from now — December 14, 2012 to be exact. But clearly Jackson wanted to give 'Lord Of The Rings' and 'Hobbit' fans an early Christmas gift and this year he delivered a two-fer. First off was the trailer for 'An Unexpected Journey' (which you can see here) and the second, an almost-unexpected treat, if you will, was the fifth installment of Jackson's 'Hobbit' video production diaries, which gives fans an early peek into the making of the films before they are released.
While perhaps not as exciting as the last two video diary entries, this one is all about the logistics of mounting such a gigantic production from the authentic vista-like locations to feeding the cast and crew, and it's still pretty interesting how open and inviting Jackson is with his tentpole as opposed to Christopher Nolan, for example, who is deeply secretive about his productions. Either way, one thing is clear — to make a film of this size, it takes a village. Bonus question: is it just us or does the music (circa the three minute mark) in this sometimes sound like Mark Mothersbaugh's electronic-like score to "The Life Aquatic"? One other treat for fans near the end, the appearance of Elijah Wood (aka Frodo, see they really aren't hiding a thing) and a quick reunion with Sir Ian McKellan (Gandalf).
Here's the 4th production video diary that I don't think we ever posted. It's all about shooting the film in 3D.