The Hobbit to Stream Fan Event In Less Than Two Hours

It's short notice, folks, but a worldwide "fan event" celebrating the upcoming release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will bit the Web at 5 p.m. EST, according to director Peter Jackson's Facebook page. The event will livestream through the movie's official YouTube page, in the video embedded below. If you visit the YouTube page directly, you can participate in a live conversation with other fans and a Q&A with filmmakers, using a chat app below the video on YouTube. The Hobbit Worldwide Fan Event begins soon—Monday, 5:00 pm EST / Tuesday, 11 am NZDT. We'll be joining from here in New Zealand, while Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans and Andy Serkis celebrate with fans in NY, LA and London. You can watch the festivities via live stream on The Hobbit YouTube page (link below). The event follows on the heels of the release of six new character posters for the film, which you can see below the video embed.