The Hobbit

Hollywood’s 2014 may well go down as a mere box-office blip, or it could be Act One in a drama of coming digital disruption.

Audiences skipped splashy holiday fare like “Unbroken” and “Into the Woods,” choosing instead to see “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.”

Interested to know more about Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor before taking the plunge?

Martin Freeman, star of the British version of “The Office,” will play the role of Bilbo Baggins in a J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation of “The Hobbit.”

Peter Jackson, who recently announced he would direct “The Hobbit” in two installments, will start filming the Lord of the Rings prequel in early 2011.