New scenes from Middle Earth and Hobbiton, or Matamata, as Waikato and Bay of Plenty folk know it, are about to be shown on the silver screen – and are now viewable online.

The first trailer of the Hobbit films being directed by Sir Peter Jackson was released today at 4pm by film company Warner Bros.

The film version of the JRR Tolkien novel is divided into two parts and the trailer is of the first part: The Hobbit, an Unexpected Journey.

The movie is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings movies and features some same castings. The main one is of Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf.

Playing the lead role of Bilbo Baggins is Martin Freeman.

The movie is due to be released next December.