The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (in theaters Friday)

Peter Jackson, director of the Oscar-winning blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy has returned to Middle Earth to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved and whimsical Rings precursor The Hobbit to the big screen. In this, the first of three films springing from Tolkien’s single-volume novel, Frodo Baggins’ uncle Bilbo, seen only briefly in 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring and 2003’s Return of the King, ventures to a desolate mountain in order to reclaim a prized treasure stolen by a ferocious dragon-like creature called Smaug.

Joined on his quest by a dozen curious dwarves, this younger Bilbo is played by The Office and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy star Martin Freeman, who encounters a host of familiar faces from Ian McKellan’s wise wizard Gandalf and Cate Blanchett’s powerful elf priestess Galadriel, to the bug-eyed, ring-obsessed creeper Gollum. With a screenplay co-written by the film’s original director, cult hero Guillermo del Toro, The Hobbit co-stars Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Elijah Wood. Rated PG-13.

Watch the trailer below: