The Hobbit releases eighth TV spot: watch now

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has loosed a new TV spot onto the internet.

The eighth in a series of half-minute teasers begins by reminding us where the franchise started, with an elderly Bilbo (Ian Holm), as we saw him in Lord Of The Rings , offering to tell Elijah Wood’s Frodo about his adventures.

From here on we see a youthful Mr Baggins (played by a pitch-perfect Martin Freeman) muddle his way through battles with fearsome trolls, ravenous wolves and everyone’s favourite ring fiend, Gollum (Andy Serkis).

While it offers nothing in the way of new surprises, it still managed to get our pulses racing with anticipation.

Watch the new spot below:

The awesome final shot of Gandalf (Ian McKellen) leaping, sword-in-hand, at the camera with wizened fury, feels like a premonition of how wait-weary fans will storm the box office on release day.

To paraphrase Boromir in The Fellowship Of The Ring , after eight, long, hobbit-less years, one does not simply walk into the multiplex.

Directed by Peter Jackson and co-starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Hugo Weaving, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will open in the UK on 13 December 2012.

For much more on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , grab yourself a copy of Total Film magazine issue 201 - out now!

And don’t forget, the issue is available as our incredible interactive iPad edition for just £1.99 .

Enter our competition to win tickets to the Royal Premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (closes 7 December 2012)

Latest in Lord of the Rings Movies
Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
24 years later, fans are still spotting the incredible, "unmatched" attention to detail in Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The Lord of the Rings anime movie sets streaming date, meaning every movie will be available in one place
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Peter Jackson reveals his favorite movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and it's not the one you're probably expecting
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Just two weeks after its theatrical release, Lord of the Ring: The War of Rohirrim is heading to digital
The Matrix
32 movies that spawned iconic internet memes
Helm Hammerhand and his family in the throne room during the upcoming movie, Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.
If you squint, those Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim cameos work surprisingly well in Tolkien lore
Latest in News
The Witcher 3
Resident Evil and Witcher 3 mocap director says video game industry layoffs have made it so "nothing is guaranteed," but AI won’t be replacing real actors "anytime soon"
Rift Apart
Retiring Insomniac boss says developers should still tackle new genres, but it's much riskier these days due to time and money
Atomfall screenshot
Atomfall dev doesn’t understand how massive development teams manage to keep organised: "How do you organize a game that has 2,000 people working on it?"
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Stardew Valley player bringing a bit of Baldur's Gate 3 to ConcernedApe's farming sim, now with Larian's seal of approval, says they've played over 1,500 hours and will improve the mod
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Monster Hunter Wilds' final boss is even cooler than we thought: series experts point out attacks stitched together from iconic monsters throughout the series
This is Spinal Tap
First Spinal Tap 2 teaser reveals release date for comedy sequel that’s over 40 years in the making