Middle Earth upped sticks to San Diego yesterday, as Saturday's COMIC CON was all about Peter Jackson's follow-up film to the hugely successful Lord of the Rings series; The Hobbit.
Along with director Jackson, Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins), Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield), Andy Serkis (Gollum) scriptwriter Philippa Boyens and surprise guest Elijah Wood. Although present at the ceremony, Wood, who played the protagonist Frodo Baggins in the LOTR trilogy, will be unlikely to feature in the movies, given that Frodo's character does not feature in the book.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, part one of the two-part prequel series, is due in cinemas on December 14 this year, with the follow-up The Hobbit: There And Back Again, expected in the following year.
Blood-sucking TV series The Vampire Diaries, was also up yesterday, with the show's stars STEVEN R. MCQUEEN, ZACH ROERIG, Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and MICHAEL TREVINO on the panel to answer fan's questions.
Recently re-commissioned fantasy series Grimm was also present with a panel, as was the animated sci-fi series and long-time Comic Con resident Futurama.
The event, which began on Wednesday (although not officially until Thursday), comes to a close tomorrow, with panels for shows such as Fringe and Merlin on offer as well as the usual movie and comic book talk, not to mention the annual Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical number!