The Hobbit director Peter Jackson has revealed that The Desolation of Smaug will be a 'darker' film than its predecessor.

He explained that the movie has "less humour" in it than last year's An Unexpected Journey.

He told Empire: "This has less humour in it for sure. The first film was where we allowed ourselves to try and capture something of the children's book, but it is really not appropriate to do that anymore."

The director added that he felt it was "important" to tackle the novel's more serious issues in the upcoming film.

He continued: "Some pretty serious stuff is going down and it is important that we don't undercut that now."

Meanwhile, star Orlando Bloom has admitted that he was "concerned" about reprising the role of Legolas, due to the character not appearing in the Hobbit novel.

"I was concerned a little bit, how to justify Legolas's return. But Peter, Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens] were very clear about how it would work. It feels authentic, you know?" the 36-year-old said.

Bloom filmed his final scenes as Legolas over the weekend, alongside fellow cast members Sir Ian McKellen and Evangeline Lilly.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be released on December 13 with final film There And Back Again following in December 2014.

Watch a teaser trailer for The Desolation of Smaug below:

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