3. The Riddle-Game
As we all know from the Lord of the Rings, Bilbo encounters Gollum deep beneath the Misty Mountains. Bilbo absconds with the Ring and sets in motion Gollums malice, which helps to motivate so many of the developments in The Lord of the Rings. But while Bilbo stumbled upon the Ring in the dark, he managed to get away from Gollum through the riddle-game. This ancient ritual involves two combatants telling riddles in turn to be answered by the other; the first who is unable to answer a riddle loses. In the case of Bilbo v. Gollum, the stakes were Bilbos life versus Gollum showing him the way out of the mountain. Bilbo wins, which throws Gollum into a rage; while trying to escape, Bilbo accidentally puts on the Ring and discovers its magical power The riddle-game could technically be taken out. Bilbo found the Ring before the test, would have encountered Gollum without it happening, and the outcome of the test didnt matter, as Gollum lost but still tried to kill Bilbo. But it including it would highlight the combination of whimsy and menace that makes The Hobbit such a great story, and give Andy Serkis an opportunity to shine once more as Gollum. I actually think its unlikely they would not include this in the movie, since its such a famous part of the book. But its still worth mentioning.