Andy Serkis’ The Hobbit is Getting an Audiobook Release

Middle-earth is ready to become the setting of the next great cinematic universe. Until someone makes that happens, Harper Collins is providing fans with a great way to kick back and enjoy the very first published Middle-earth tale. The publisher will release a new audiobook version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (or There and Back Again) as read by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. This comes after Serkis performed a 12-hour live reading of The Hobbit to raise money during the early days of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“We are delighted to announce the release of a brand-new audiobook of The Hobbit, read by @andyserkis!” Harper Collins tweeted with an audio excerpt and link to pre-order the audiobook. In another tweet, Harper Collins writes, “In his #Hobbitathon in May @andyserkis raised much needed funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. Now, for his new audio recording of The Hobbit, he’ll be donating his reader’s fee to the Disasters Emergency Committee, and we are matching his contribution.”

In the original Hibbitathon campaign’s mission statement, Serkis said, “So many of us are struggling in isolation during the lockdown. While times are tough, I want to take you on one of the greatest fantasy adventures ever written, a 12-hour armchair marathon across Middle-Earth whilst raising money for two amazing charities which are doing extraordinary work right now to help those most in need in the UK: Best Beginnings and NHS Charities Together… I’ll be embarking on a marathon reading of The Hobbit – from cover to cover, there and back again. The entire book. A Hobbitathon!

“From an unexpected party to the last stage, join Bilbo and me on this tale of high adventure. Together we’ll face the might of the trolls, journey to the magical Rivendell, encounter the giant spiders in the labyrinths of Mirkwood, and the evil goblins living among the roots of the Misty Mountains, until we meet the dragon Smaug, and see the Battle of the Five Armies.”

From the Audible product page for the new audiobook, “This brand-new unabridged audio book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved The Hobbit will be coming to listeners everywhere this September. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day, to whisk him away on a journey ‘there and back again’. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…. The prelude to The Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies since its publication in 1937, establishing itself as one of the most influential books of the 20th century.”

The new audiobook of The Hobbit becomes available on September 3rd.