The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the shortest Lord Of The Rings film yet, which means it's still very long

As part of his own continuing epic war on the dark forces of the human bladder, Peter Jackson has confirmed that his first Hobbit film will weigh in at a hefty two-hour-and-40-minute running time—or to put it in Peter Jackson terms, "Officially our shortest Middle-Earth yet." The director surprised those who are unfamiliar with Jackson's films by telling Empire that—while he had yet to add the credits, finalize all effects shots, or add at least three more scenes where the breathtaking beauty of New Zealand's rolling hills is just allowed to unfurl unimpeded for a little while as dwarves trudge across them—"It's looking like it’s going to be about ten minutes shorter than Fellowship was." Of course, Fellowship was the first of three equally lengthy films adapting a dense, 1,000-plus page novel, while The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first of three, probably equally lengthy films adapting its 300 pages—so you can definitely see why those extra ten minutes aren’t in there, as that would be ridiculous. Anyway, the massive caloric intake of a Denny's Hobbit meal will be, as it turns out, very practical.