Director Peter Jackson used Facebook on Tuesday to release singer Ed Sheeran's new song that will play during the closing credits of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — the upcoming sequel in the three-part film adaptation of the The Hobbit novel.
Sheeran teased the song, "I See Fire," to his 8 million Twitter followers on Monday before Jackson unveiled the making-of video on Facebook a day later (watch it, below).
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"It's always tricky to think of the right person to create and [perform] these songs," Jackson wrote, giving his daughter credit for roping in Sheeran. "Someone who shares our passion for Tolkien, and somebody who is prepared to respect the film."
Sheeran recently flew to New Zealand to watch the movie, write the song and record it.
"This is his direct emotional response to seeing The Desolation of Smaug, written and performed on the same day he saw the movie," Jackson noted.
Post by Peter Jackson.
That's Jackson's recap of events, and here's how Sheeran feels about everything:
I got the chance to produce and play all the instruments on it apart from the cello. Managed to learn violin for a day, hope you all dig it
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) November 4, 2013
Big up Peter Jackson and his team for giving me the opportunity
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) November 4, 2013
It's also the first solo song I've released in over 2 years, it's not on the new album though, that fun starts next year
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) November 4, 2013
The sequel, which is a follow-up to 2012's An Unexpected Journey, hits theaters on Dec. 13. The film follows Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and the 13 dwarves, as they continue their journey to reclaim dwarf kingdom Erebor from the fire-breathing dragon Smaug.
A new sneak peek of the film debuted this week, following the release of the second trailer last month and the first trailer in June:

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Image: Warner Bros.