New trailer for 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

Peter Jackson has unleashed what is most likely the last (and longest) trailer for 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug', and it has upped the drama to fever pitch.

Were it not likely in the three-hour run-time bracket, you'd be forgiven for thinking that there can't be much Jackson hasn't shown in this latest taste of Hobbity action.

But as generous as it is dazzling in scale, one would hope he's got a few more tricks up his sleeve too – but this easily the most exciting glimpse so far.

[Simpsons reveals Hobbit couch gag]

Balancing brooding drama, beards, occasional comic relief, a scattering of elf ears and a big pile of gold, it culminates with Benedict Cumberbatch's stark warning to the dwarves as the dragon Smaug, he of all that desolation.

The trailer was debuted yesterday at a special fan event at satellite-linked cinemas in London, New York, Wellington and Los Angeles.

[Martin Freeman airbrushed in new Hobbit posters]

As well as the trailer and a Q&A with Peter Jackson, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Richard Armitage and Andy Serkis, 20 minutes of footage from the movie was also screened.

In case you're planning some kind of retreat from civilisation over the next month or so, you'll find that 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' will be in cinemas across the land from December 13.