Photo Flash: Album Art Revealed for THE HOBBIT Soundtrack, Due Out 12/11

Related: THE HOBBIT

Watertower Music has officially announced the December 11th release date for the soundtrack of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. The soundtrack will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set. A Special Edition of the soundtrack featuring six exclusive bonus tracks, seven extended score cues, and deluxe liner notes will also be available December 11. Check out the album art for the soundtrack below!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey features original score by Academy Award® winner Howard Shore recorded at famed Abbey Road studios by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally it includes an original song entitled “Song of the Lonely Mountain,” written and performed by Neil Finn (Crowded House).

The film follows the titular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever... Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities... A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and many, many more star in the December 14 release.