Richard Armitage Dishes on Battle of Five Armies in 'Hobbit: There and Back Again'

Dec 26, 2012 14:11

"The Hobbit" has just released the first installment of the trilogy, but one of its actors, Richard Armitage, is already raving about the epic Battle of Five Armies in the third film, "The Hobbit: There and Back Again". While the intense sequence hasn't been shot just yet, he envisioned what it would be like.

"It's been put aside until next year, thankfully," Armitage jokingly said of the filming. "It's this big thing looming over us. I'm predicting about ten weeks for the shoot because it's an extensive battle and each character is going to have their 'hero' moment on the battlefield. It's a manic fight in the air - the eagles are fighting bats - and on the ground, and I can't wait to see what Pete does with that."

Actor and second-unit director Andy Serkis, who will handle the big fight sequence, hints that "it's going to be intense beyond belief. It's going to be extraordinary - that's all I can say." The epic battle sequence will see the Men, the Elves, the Dwarves and the Eagles, all fighting for the future of Middle-earth.

"The Hobbit" films are set 60 years before "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, also directed by Peter Jackson. Reprising their "LOTR" roles are Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Christopher Lee as Saruman, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, and Andy Serkis as Gollum. Martin Freeman, meanwhile, takes the role of the titular hobbit.

The first installment, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", was released on December 14. The second film is set for a December 2013 release, while the final part will come out in July 2014.