The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-PosterPeter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will finally be unveiled to the world today, with its world premiere being held over in Wellington, New Zealand, with almost the entire cast in attendance.

The film kicks off a new trilogy for Jackson’s return to Middle-earth, treating us first to An Unexpected Journey next month, then The Desolation of Smaug in December 2013, and finally There and Back Again in the height of summer in July 2014.

Expected to be in attendance at this afternoon’s screening are Peter Jackson and his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, alongside Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Barry Humphries, Sylvester McCoy, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, and Aidan Turner.

The video below is expected to go live in just a few minutes’ time at 3:50 p.m. local time, which is 2:50 a.m. here in the UK, and 6:50 p.m. PDT or 9:50 p.m. EST for US readers.

The invite-only event will see the stars and VIPs walk more than 500m. of red carpet from Reading Cinema to The Embassy Theatre, both of which will be screening the anticipated blockbuster.

The latest instalment in the production videos showed Jackson and his crew working on the film in post-production, with the director saying they planned to finish just two days before today’s premiere, so it’s somewhat been down to the wire, and there’s every reason to expect that it’s going to be incredibly well received among those in attendance.

For the rest of us, we’ve still got just over two weeks left to wait until it arrives on the big screen. Thankfully, we’ll be very much rewarded for our wait, because the first full-length trailer for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is expected to be attached to The Hobbit’s theatrical release.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released in 3D in regular and IMAX theatres on 13th December here in the UK, followed a day later on 14th December in the US. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will then land on 13th December, 2013, and finally The Hobbit: There and Back Again on 18th July, 2014. For now, you can watch the live stream below from Wellington, New Zealand, of the first instalment’s world premiere. Enjoy.