Available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning March 19th is the box office smash The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Academy Award-winning directer Peter Jackson. The film is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the first chapter of its own trilogy, which will include the upcoming The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Martin Freeman (Love Actually) as young Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen (X2) as Gandalf the Grey, Cate Blanchett (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) as Galadriel, Hugo Weaving (Cloud Atlas) as Elrond, Christopher Lee (Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones) as Saruman the White, Sylvester McCoy (TV's Doctor Who) as Radagast the Brown, Ian Holm (Alien) as old Bilbo Baggins, Elijah Wood (Sin City) as Frodo Baggins, Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) as Gollum, Manu Bennett (TV's Spartacus: Blood and Sand) as Azog the Defiler, Lee Pace (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2) as the Elvenking Thranduil, Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as The Necromancer of Dol Guldur, Barry Humphries (Finding Nemo) as the Great Goblin, John Rawls (The Warrior's Way) as Yazneg, as well as Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Thorin Oakensheild, Graham McTavish (Rambo) as Dwalin, Ken Slott (Charlie Wilson's War) as Balin, Aidan Turner (TV's Being Human) as Kili, Dean O'Gorman (TV's Legend of the Seeker) as Fili, Mark Hadlow (King Kong) as Dori, Jed Brophy (District 9) as Nori, Adam Brown as Ori, John Callen as Oin, Peter Hambleton as Gloin, William Kircher (Out of the Blue) as Bifur, James Nesbitt (Match Point) as Bofur, and Stephen Hunter as Bombur, who all portray The Company of Dwarves. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with Martin Freeman to talk about his work on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The popular actor discussed the hit film, its new Blu-ray and DVD, preparing to take on the iconic role of Bilbo Baggins, not meeting Ian Holm until the film's theatrical premiere, his concerns about signing on to make three films, moving to New Zealand, working with Peter Jackson on the highly anticipated trilogy, how shooting in 3D and 48 fps affected him as an actor, the controversy over 48 fps, and why Peter Jackson can get away with pushing the filmmaking envelope.