The Hobbit (film series) was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct before his departure from the project. The films take place in the fictional world of Middle-earth sixty years before the beginning of "The Lord of the Rings", and follow hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). The films also expand upon certain elements from the novel and
The Hobbit (1985 film) The Hobbit (1985 film) The Hobbit (, full name The Fabulous Journey of Mr. Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, Across the Wild Land, Through the Dark Forest, Beyond the Misty Mountains. There and Back Again; ) is a 1985 Soviet low-budget children's film, being a loose adaption of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 book "The Hobbit" by Vladimir Latyshev. The film featured Zinovy Gerdt as "the professor" (a narrator stand-in for Tolkien), Mikhail Danilov as Bilbo Baggins, Anatoly Ravikovich as Thorin Oakenshield and Igor Dmitriev as Gollum. Smaug and the Mirkwood spiders were portrayed by puppets. Missing in this version are