Just a year after the release of “An Unexpected Journey” hit the box office, the next film in “The Hobbit” trilogy, “The Desolation of Smaug” comes to the screen Dec. 13.

Although “The Hobbit” films go hand in hand with “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the two series still remain unique to one another.

“The bigger difference to me [is] in the target audience,” said Damon Viner, a new student majoring in marketing this spring. “The book is more intended for children, so it’s interesting to see how it’s made so adults are able to enjoy it, too.”

For many fans of the series and the book, “The Desolation of Smaug” is about one thing: Smaug himself. Smaug is voiced by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the film, and throughout the entirety of the first film, Smaug was never fully shown.

“I’m most excited for the dragon,” said D.J. Oler, senior in accounting, as he was waiting for his early showing to open.

“I love dragons; dragons all the way” said Joshua Rietgraf, a student.

For some, seeing the film is worth facing their fears.

“I’m looking forward to Smaug, but not the spiders. I hate the spiders,” said theater-goer Tyler Ronca.

Students also were curious as to what changes they would see in the film compared to the book “The Hobbit,” on account of it being split up into three films rather than one.

“The book is split up into three books, and there’s so much in it that I would expect they would need three movies,” Oler said. “I heard a lot of people were mad that they added the White Orc, but as a movie, I don’t think the first one would have succeeded without an antagonist.”

The film is expected to take in $80 million in its opening weekend, adding to the almost $4 billion earned through “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” series.

“Peter Jackson hasn’t done me wrong yet,” Rietgraf said.