Check out Ian McKellen in a new The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies image

July 17th 2014, 7:47pm

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

When he’s not gearing up to play a 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes, the great Ian McKellen is having kicking butt all over Middle-earth. Ahead of THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES’s big presentation at Comic-Con next week, a new image was released featuring Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Bard (Luke Evans) preparing for battle.

First up, here’s the official synopsis:

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town. Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.

It’s not much I’ll admit, but it got me excited for the festivities next week. Peter Jackson has a track record of letting us see a fantastic amount of behind-the-scenes work as well as finished footage so I expect he will share some noteworthy goodies soon enough. Jackson has announced that he will be at Comic Con this year (we are going to be there!) so look for more news on the final installment of The Hobbit Trilogy next week.

The movie stars stars Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, and Orlando Bloom.