Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has been working hard over in New Zealand over the last few weeks finishing up on the filming of his most recent Tolkien trilogy, The Hobbit. The director has posted photos to his Facebook page of the final days on The Hobbit set, including one of star Martin Freeman‘s last day on July 12 (here below), and then the final shot done on July 26, 2013.

One of the last pictures of the filming that Jackson posted on Facebook was taken two weeks ago of Sherlock stars Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch together on set. Freeman has the lead role in the film trilogy as the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, while Cumberbatch is voicing the dragon Smaug, who is the center of attention in the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, due out in theaters on December 13, 2013. In the photo, shown here below, which Jackson titled “Smaug admires Bilbo’s feet,” Cumberbatch is touching Freeman’s prosthetic Hobbit feet. Check out the photo here below.

If you’re excited about The World’s End, the new movie from director Edgar Wright and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost that follows Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz to close out the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, you’re going to enjoy this video.

In it, Wright, Pegg, and Frost sit down for some tea and a chat with papa Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, who’s resting comfortably in his chair and wearing cozy wool socks. Jackson had a cameo in the second film of the trilogy and they’re all obviously friendly, so it’s pretty awesome to see them sitting back and chatting shop. The group discusses making The World’s End, from how the idea was born to various complications that arose.

You can check out the video below now. And be sure to watch to the end (starting at about 17:45) for some good ol’ papa Peter wisdom!

After the release of the first official look at Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) last week, and the film’s first poster this past weekend, the first offical trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug has finally debuted.

Hit the jump to see the full trailer here below.

The film follows Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and his band of fearless dwarves, and Gandalf the Grey, who are on a quest to obtain gold that was stolen from them from a great dragon called Smaug. Not only do we get our first look at Smaug, Tauriel, Beron the Bear, and Bard, but we also get to see the return of Legolas (Orlando Bloom).

Much of what we have seen of Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug came from promotional items, like toy box covers, or leaked set photos.

But in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the former Lost star talks about the character, her place in the Elvish social order, and the possible romantic interests she has in the film. Check out the full photo below of Lilly as Tauriel here below.

On Sunday, March 24, 2013, Peter Jackson hosted an exclusive live online event to premiere new footage from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – the second film in his trilogy inspired by the classic J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel – and answer questions from viewers and a selection of special surprise guests. This event was open only to those who had purchased The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Blu-ray and received a unique passcode to access the live feed.

Today, Jackson has released a 6-minute edited excerpt of the event on his YouTube channel. You can watch the video here below.