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QuickClick: The Hobbit Video Blog #9 Sprints For the Finish

Director Peter Jackson has maintained a commitment to transparency during the making of the upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, releasing several production blogs online throughout the process and offering impatient fans a chance to see what he is up to with this next cinematic installment of Middle-Earth. Back in July, Jackson released the eighth video, which looked at the final week of production, as well as the mania that ensued when Jackson revealed some footage at the San Diego Comic-Con. With only a few weeks to go before The Hobbit is released, the latest production video focuses on post-production, with Jackson and his crew attempting to finish editing the movie a few days before its release date.

While Jackson busies himself making tea for himself and editor Jabez Olssen as they work on the second part of the three-part Hobbit adaptation, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, new footage is (sort of) revealed as the pre-visualization department works on several landscape shots and the visual effects department works on the scene where Bilbo (Martin Freeman) gets is discovered by a group of trolls sitting around a campfire.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was adapted by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Guillermo del Toro, and Philippa Boyens. Returning cast members include Ian McKellen as Gandalf; Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Andy Serkis (in motion-capture and later animated) as Gollum; and Sir Christopher Lee as Saruman. New cast members include Richard Armitage as dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield; Lee Pace as the Elven King Thranduil; Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman; Sylvester McCoy as the wizard Radagast; Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel; Barry Humphries as the Goblin King; Stephen Fry as the Master of Lake Town; Mikael Persbrandt as the shape-shifter Beorn; and Billy Connolly as Dain Ironfoot.