The Hobbit is a DC Comics comic book franchise .
The films take place in the fictional world of Middle-earth sixty years before the beginning of The Lord of the Rings , and follow hobbit Bilbo Baggins -LRB- Martin Freeman -RRB- , who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf the Grey -LRB- Ian McKellen -RRB- to accompany thirteen dwarves , led by Thorin Oakenshield -LRB- Richard Armitage -RRB- , on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug -LRB- voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch -RRB- .
The Hobbit -LRB-film series-RRB-