Jackson unveils new Hobbit footage (+video)

Peter Jackson talks to fans at Comic-Con in San Diego. Photo / AP

Peter Jackson has unveiled new footage from The Hobbit and plenty of behind-the-scenes material in his latest production video diary.

The eighth video in Jackson's Facebook and YouTube video series was first unveiled at the recent Comic-Con in San Diego, and shows new scenes from the first of Jackson's highly anticipated two films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The video, which covers the last five days of principal shooting, also shows Jackson's team making farewell speeches and saying their goodbyes on their final day together.

One scene shows Sir Ian McKellen, who plays wise wizard Gandalf, hugging Jackson and placing Gandalf's hat on the director's head.

The footage also gives a sense of the scale of the films, with sets being built overnight, costumes being constantly tweaked and altered, and random props - like intestines - being painted to look realistic.

"You literally just wake up every morning and go shoot a movie, and it seems to last a lifetime," says Jackson at one point.

Another scene shows Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, joking around between takes, sitting at a table and quoting a line from comedy show Little Britain: "Write the theme tune, sing the theme tune."

Later on, Freeman says: "I'll miss the camaraderie of the folks that we've built up and the cast and crew. We've spent an awful long of time together, there's like 12 or 13 of us that have been in a mini-army."

Jackson recently announced that he could shoot more Hobbit footage - possibly turning the two Hobbit films into a trilogy - next year.

He said there were more "challenges" ahead in post-production, and he would keep posting video updates during that process.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due for release on December 14, with a world premiere being held on November 28 in Wellington. The sequel, There and Back Again, is due for release on December 13, 2013.

Watch The Hobbit, Production Video #8: Last Days:

- Herald online