What filmmakers do with a seemingly unlimited budget varies. Some will spend it on the best catering ever, others will pour it into the script or set design, and then there’s Peter Jackson, who will use every dime to film as much as possible. If "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy —and the subsequent extended version of the movies— saw him doing his best to capture J.R.R. Tolkien‘s expansive Middle Earth, "The Hobbit" series adjusts that notion oddly. Somehow, the slim novella has become three bloated movies, each with their own extended home video versions. And it’s not cheap. Reports via AP put the total cost of production at $745 million for the trilogy, and by the way, that doesn’t include the final eight months of post-production on the forthcoming "The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies." However, quality of the movies aside, you can’t argue that Jackson isn’t ensuring you see every penny spent.
Two clips from the extended "The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug" have dropped online, showing you even more from a movie which now runs 186 minutes. What do you get? More backstory and battles, basically, with flashbacks, and lots of exposition conveyed with serious gravity. For even more, a handful of featurettes and behind-the-scenes looks are also on the web, including pre-CGI Benedict Cumberbatch doing his thing as Smaug in a mo-cap suit.
"The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug MEGA VERSION" arrives on November 4th. Watch below.
