I'm still speed-reading the articles (there are 63 pages worth!) but the first spoilers have just hit me between the eyes!!
Firstly, the article reports that Jackson "hints the dragon will make a fleeting appearance in the first film, most likely in the prologue, and will remain as liquid tongued as the book's memorable villain (he is a character not a monster)."
Secondly "The spiders will speak more as a psychic communication", adds Jackson of Mirkwood's nest of arachnids (now in film two). "Only Bilbo hears them."
Thirdly
"Talking of subtexts, the Great Goblin, portrayed by Barry Humphries (as in Dame Edna), comes partly based on Kim Jong-il, late, unbeloved Dark Lord of North Korea. Grotesque is the key word here: "He is a rather childish character who enjoys tormenting the dwarves," says Jackson of the ruler of a ramshackle mountain kingdom built on set and in the fathomless mainframes of Weta Digital. "The goblins are a rather putrid, mouldy race of people."
"Choosing Trust over Doubt gets me burned once in a while, but I'd rather be singed than hardened."
¯ Victoria Monfort