In Pics: Benedict Cumberbatch Doing Motion-Capture as Smaug for the Hobbit Movie is a bit Scary

Undoubtedly one of the main highlights of the new Hobbit movie will be the introduction of Benedict Cumberbatch as the evil dragon Smaug. These interesting behind-the scenes images of Cumberbatch were posted on Flickr by user Tolkienerd. The stills were taken from a “making-of” featurette that was included in the ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ extended edition DVD and feature Cumberbatch really getting into the role of the dragon. They’re pretty intense: Cumberbatch had previously spoken about his conversation with director Peter Jackson about doing the motion-capture: "I went, ‘I know what you’re going to say: I’m a biped mammal, I’m not a serpent with tiny claws or legs. I don’t have a tail, I can’t breathe fire or fly, and the rest of the things that aren’t dragonlike about me. But I do think in my imagination I’ve got something which might at least push the WETA animation into a direction.’" "He went, "Come down and play." The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be in cinemas on December 11^th. We cannot wait! Screengrabs via: Flickr and io9