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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Dec. 14)

Everything about Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved fantasy is huge — with the obvious exception of the hobbit himself and the 13 dwarves who accompany him on a quest to reclaim a dragon's treasure. The months of shooting in New Zealand, the expectations of millions of moviegoers, the technology required to bring the story to life — all of it is on a scale that's hard to comprehend. Even Jackson can feel daunted. ''On the first day, it's like you're standing looking up at the summit of a mountain, thinking, 'How the hell are we ever going to get up there?''' While fans have deep faith in Jackson given his success with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, there's uncertainty about how he'll translate Tolkien's fable — which the director is beefing up with material from later appendices by Tolkien — into a reported $500 million-plus trilogy. Co-producer and co-writer Philippa Boyens says they need not fret. ''There is no one way to tell these stories — there are multiple ways,'' she says. ''People have said, 'Are you worried about what the fans are going to think?' And I go, 'Well, we are fans!''' Huge ones, in fact. —Josh Rottenberg

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