If the whole world were polled on their most awaited film for 2012—the no. 1 answer will most likely be The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The Lord of the Rings films together have raked in close to $3 billion worldwide. It’s been nine years since the release of The Return of the King and fans of film franchise have been hungry for more. And that “more” is The Hobbit.

At the 2012 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), the line for Hall H on Hobbit Day started forming the night before—for a panel that would start at around 4 in the afternoon. In line you’d often hear the phrase “a test of one’s fandom.” Indeed, it meant losing sleep, spending some hours in the cold, and in one year, trying to score precious tickets to the SDCC. The reward of course would be seeing Peter Jackson, Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis and company discuss the film, and get treated to over 10 minutes of never seen before footage on a special 180 degree screen.

The footage is stunning. Save that the material being shown was a 24 fps (frame rate per second) print. Not only will there be a 3D print in December, Warner Brothers will also be releasing 48 fps print.

Peter Jackson has been a big advocate of the 48 fps print saying, “Science tells us that the human eye stops seeing individual pictures at about 55 fps. Therefore, shooting at 48 fps gives you much more of an illusion of real life.” Jackson asks us to imagine an “immersive” experience free of (visual) noise, and image artifacts like motion blur and prepare for something “realistic, vivid and sharp.”

While there is no word on whether we will have the equipment here for the 48 fps format, but there will definitely be an IMAX print. While fans in other parts of the globe are planning line parties and such, over here in Manila, a group is planning to complete the set of 13 dwarves in time for the first screening.

And while there will be new faces, audiences who loved Lord of the Rings will see familiar ones too like Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Sauron (Christopher Lee who turned 90 last May) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom). Special mention goes to Andy Serkis who not only is Gollum again—he is also second unit director for The Hobbit. Gimli and Leggy’s parents Gloin and Thranduil will be also introduced.

There’s so much Hobbit to go around, there are now three movies instead of two. The Desolation of Smaug has a 2013 release date, and There and Back Again is set for 2014.

Oh Santa, can’t you get Viggo Mortensen back for one of these films?