Actor Andy Serkis will read the entirety of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit in one twelve-hour session and you can watch, listen or read-along live.
Serkis is best known for his motion capture roles in movies like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Caesar), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Supreme Leader Snoke) and, of course, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which he played a hobbit—born Sméagol, made Gollum—corrupted by the One Ring. His indelible connection to Tolkien's fictional Middle Earth and wide-ranging vocal performance capacity makes him one of the best imaginable readers for The Hobbit—skills he'll flex in an upcoming event dubbed "The Hobbitathon."
To be held all-day on Friday, May 8, The Hobbitathon will raise money to be split even between two U.K. charities. Best Beginnings focuses on children under the age of three, providing support services meant to reduce inequality by targeting kids at their most crucial state of development. NHS Charities Together is a network of 230 organizations working to improve hospital services and support the staff of the U.K.'s National Health Service. The GoFundMe has so far raised more than £37,000 of their £100,000 goal.
"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, while raising money for two amazing charities which are doing extraordinary work right now to help those most in need," Serkis said in a statement posted to the GoFundMe page.
To watch Serkis read through the entirety of The Hobbit—which is expected to take between 10 and 12 hours—you'll need to tune in beginning at 5 a.m. Eastern time (10 a.m. in Great Britain) on Friday, May 8.
The Hobbit marathon reading live stream will be available as a link on the fundraiser's GoFundMe page, or you can watch live, right here:
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again was first published in 1937, 17 years before the 1954 publication of The Fellowship of the Ring. The children's fantasy novel is tonally very different from the more epic and sprawling The Lord of the Rings, as it follows Frodo's uncle Bilbo Baggins from his home at Bag End to the Lonely Mountain, where Thorin Oakenshield and his company of dwarves hopes to expel the dragon Smaug from their ancestral home.
In a video posted to the Hobbitathon page, Serkis also offered a glimpse at another project he's working on, quickly flashing a computer screen where he's busy editing the 2021 Venom sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which Serkis directed.
"From an unexpected party to the last stage, join Bilbo and me on this tale of high adventure," Serkis said. "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."
