The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Gets Huge Poster Banner

Panoramic poster comes just before Comic Con's unveiling of more exclusives.

By Matt Aspin /

With just over five months to go until Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits cinemas in 3D, geeks and nerds the world over are salivating on to their preciouses in anticipation. As each little piece of news finds its way on to the internet the feeding frenzy grows ever stronger, but now the Gods of the Internet have given us the best gift yet - a MASSIVE panoramic banner highlighting the key scenes from the movie. So, if Peter Jackson's reveal of the first Hobbit one-sheet at Comic-Con wasn't enough to tickle your inner-Tolkien you can now get your first glimpse of shape-shifter/skin-changer Beorn (surprisingly not a member of Abba), who appears to Gandalf as a black bear. As well as this exciting sneak peek we also get a look at the much younger Bilbo Baggins, the deranged Gollum, and the troop of dwarves lead by legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield, who accompany Gandalf and Baggins on their quest. Expectations for the film are high, given the success of Jackson's original Tolkien trilogy, but there is some fear that perhaps he has left it too long to recapture the original magic? Cinema fans will recall exactly how badly George Lucas' return to the Star Wars Universe was received by the legions of hardcore fans and if any franchise can rival Star Wars in terms of its sheer number of fans it's The Hobbit/LOTR. You can view the full size image here, courtesy of Blastr.com The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14, 2012, and will be followed one year later by The Hobbit: There and Back Again on December 13, 2013. The trailer can be viewed below.