Martin Freeman’s hobbit got more than 1.6 million votes on social media to take home the coveted Golden Popcorn at Sunday’s show.

The battle for Best Hero has raged on on Twitter and Instagram for over a week between the fans of one beloved Hobbit and a storybook princess-turned-warrior.

What began as a race among six nominees — Bilbo Baggins, Snow White, Iron Man, Batman, Catwoman and Hulk — became an all-out Internet war among fans of Martin Freeman and “Snow White and the Huntsman” leading lady Kristen Stewart. Fans of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” can take a victory lap around The Shire after rallying 1,637,179 votes for their hero.

Read more on the MTV Website.

We all know Martin Freeman was the Best Hero in cinemas in 2012. Make sure to #VoteBilbo at the MTV Movie Awards NOW - there are only two days left!

Either Tweet #VoteBilbo or post the hashtag with an image on your Instagram account to register a vote.

Voting is unlimited, so every single tweet and instagram post counts!

Read more on the MTV Movie Awards website. Voting closes April 14 2013.

Concerning Hobbits (and Sherlock)

“Martin essentially is a hobbit, and by that I mean he’s a wonderful British character who was reluctant to leave the Shire and uproot his idyllic home life. (He doesn’t, to the best of my knowledge, have hairy feet.) He was also reluctant to let down his Sherlock co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, and the BBC, by deserting their second series, which clashed with our dates. He’s an honourable man and a wonderful actor. Once he’d read, the filmmakers knew they’d found their Bilbo. When the date clash occurred, we went into overdrive to tape alternatives to present to Peter [Jackson] but the realisation grew that Peter, Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens] would never settle on anyone else in that role and so the plan was hatched to accommodate his Sherlock dates, by filming other cast members and editing the movies during his absences.”

- Amy Hubbard, UK Casting Director, taken from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Chronicles Volume II: Creatures and Characters.

The second in an ongoing series of superb hardcovers detailing the production of the movie trilogy, the extensively illustrated and detailed book covers the creation of all the myriad beings of Middle Earth as seen in the first film, from Stone Giants to Sebastian the Hedgehog!

The book is published on April 8 2013 in the UK and April 9 2013 in the USA.

@TheHobbitMovie have a live twitter web chat with Martin Freeman today at 17:30PST (01:30GMT).

You can send your questions now using hashtag #AskBilbo

More on The Hobbit on home video - Digital on March 12, Extended Edition confirmed for Holidays 2013, first look at the next film March 24

In addition to yesterday’s official announcement of the home video release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the United States on March 19 2013, some extra morsels of information have been revealed.

- Digital purchase and streaming of the film will be available a week earlier on March 12 on the usual platforms including iTunes, XBox Live and PSN.

- Warner Home video have confirmed that an Extended Edition of the film WILL debut on home video ‘in time for the holidays’ (so likely anytime in or after October 2013)

- Owners of the theatrical cut release will get the first chance to see material from the second film in the trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, using the Ultraviolet digital code that is included in the package. A live streaming event is scheduled to take place on Sunday March 24 2013 at 15:00ET, accessible only with the unique code in the DVD/Blu Ray released a week earlier. An edited version of the event will be released on the official website soon after.

More information on www.thedigitalbits.com. High Resolution banner via The Hobbit Facebook Page.

UPDATE: UK release date announced as April 8 2013.

One final Sherlock / The Hobbit related post from us for 2012…

… afterall, we all know who this piercing look belongs to now, don’t we?

[via theonering.net on Facebook]

A welcome return to Middle Earth, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a slighter adventure than any instalment of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but is still blessed with universally strong performances, including Martin Freeman in the title role.

Read More

A great 13 minute promotional video for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, filled with interviews and new footage - but also quite a few spoilers.

The ninth of Peter Jackson’s video production blogs on The Hobbit Trilogy, focusing on post-production of An Unexpected Journey. Very funny, and plenty of new material from the film featuring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.  

Martin Freeman on a Plane… Literally!

Formed as part of the photographic mural that will be adorning aircraft run by Air New Zealand, to mark the imminent release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

You can see more images of the aircraft on Weta Workshop’s Facebook page.