Welcome back to Middle Earth. Cue the deep-voiced dwarf ballads: Peter Jackson has released a sneak peak of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, currently in production in New Zealand, with the proviso that you still have to wait another year to see it.

The much-delayed film based on the classic novel by J.R.R. Tolkien bears Jackson's signature: he is both writing and producing the project, which will be released in two parts.

Much of his vision is familiar from his blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy, from the look of Bag End to the return of Ian McKellen as Gandalf. We get the requisite tracking shot of gorgeous New Zealand, filling in for Middle Earth, and a CGI Rivendell that's heavy on colour saturation.

But there's a new Hobbit at the centre of this story: the valiant Bilbo Baggins played by Martin Freeman. While Ian Holm portrayed an elderly Bilbo as an empty shell in the earlier LOTR trilogy, Freeman's Bilbo is a tender and energetic sprout. There's also just a glimpse of Gollum in the trailer -- played again by the incomparable Andy Serkis -- and a great deal of dwarven oral history.

Still, it's a tantalizing glimpse for fans of Tolkien and Jackson.