Peter Jackson is in the process of creating his revisitation to Middle Earth movies, in this case, a two-part movie concerning the telling of The Hobbit. To generate the appropriate buzz, even though the movie doesn’t hit the big screen until next December, the obvious move is to release a well-cut trailer that captures the imagination of Tolkien fans everywhere, while giving them a glimpse of what’s to come.

And so, we have the new Hobbit trailer. As indicated, the movie will be broken into two parts, and the first installment uses the “An Unexpected Journey” as its tagline, pretty much guaranteeing the movie will focus on the first half of the much-loved book. For those who haven’t seen it yet, but are wondering if Jackson would keep some of the Tolkien themes that are present in the book, yes, there is singing:

Since it was posted on December 20th — the YouTube version was apparently first revealed at the movie’s Facebook page — the video has already garnered over 1.1 million views, if that gives you any indication about the anticipation concerning Peter Jackson’s return trip to Middle Earth. For those completely in the dark about Hobbits and J.R.R. Tolkien, the YouTube page features the following description:

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths ofguile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

The thing about prequels is, the cast of the original films have gotten older. To address this, Jackson cast new actors to play Bilbo Baggins, but Gandalf is still being played by Ian McKellen, but in The Hobbit, he’s appearing as Gandalf the Grey, allowing him to have an older, more haggard appearance as opposed to his turn as Gandalf the White in the final two Lord of the Rings movies.

As for the reaction, if Twitter is anything to go by, the thumbs are up:

It looks like Jackson has another Middle Earth blockbuster on his hands.