YES!! I am so happy now. I agree, no one else could have done it *dances a jig*. So happy

so Peter Jackson will direct The Hobbit.....
who's playing Bilbo?
I'm not sure how much I am looking forward to this movie. if Ian Mckellan is not Gandalf I think I am going to not see it

Martin Freeman might be playing Bilbo,and the movie could still be good if they have another actor for a Gandalf.

^^ ooh, Martin FReeman? yay! then this movie might not be too bad, but if they change all the people then it won't be the LOTR I know and love!
oh well

I have heard nothing to indicate that Ian McKellen won't be returning as Gandalf, nor Andy Serkis as Gollum (they seem to have been on board from the beginning). And Cate Blanchett may reprise her role as Galadriel, and Hugo Weaving as Elrond. And a Bloom cameo as Legolas seems likely also.

The least likely to return are Christopher Lee (Saruman), and John Rhys-Davies as Gimli's father Gloin (which a lot of us were hoping for).

A slim possibility is that Viggo and Liv might return in cameos as Aragorn and Arwen, but that is difficult for me to see how that would work as Aragorn would have been about 10 years old at the time.

Filming in 3D in no way affects the 2D version negatively as anyone who has seen Avatar in both formats can attest.

GB

Yes, Andy Serkis played an awsome Gollum (ok I think its pretty clear by now I loved almost all the actors in LotR.) But if there is anyone I really want to reprise their roles its Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis.
I hope it turns out good. The Hobbit deserves a good adaption.

Gandalfs Beard, Galadrial isn't in the Hobbit. I would not want John Rhys-Davies to be Gloin, it would look like they couldn't afford a new actor.
I don't see why they wouldn't have Legolas in the movie since they spend several weeks in his home.

Galadriel is in the White Council/Necromancer/Dol Guldur storyline, which is likely to be included in the Hobbit films.

GB

But that is barely mentioned in the book and it does not mention her(probably because he had not thought of her yet)

True, but a bit of the story appears in The Hobbit when Gandalf relates finding Thrain in the Necromancer's dungeons. The rest of the Dol Guldur/White Council storyline is told in the Rise of Sauron in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings.

It explains Gandalf's "comings and goings" and "pressing business" in the South that is otherwise unexplained in The Hobbit: the book.

I for one, have always wished that Gandalf's part of the story had been told in The Hobbit. When Jackson let on that The White Council/Dol Guldur storyline would probably be weaved into his films, I couldn't have been more thrilled.

And it makes sense to make it part of the films because it strengthens the continuity between LotR and The Hobbit and gives film-goers a solid background of how the events in LotR come about.

GB

I think Ian Mckellen and Andy Serkis are definitly coming back to do their original roles, but I don't think Liv Tyler or Viggo Mortensen will come back to do cameos even. It just doesn't seem necessary. I mean it'd be cool to spot them, but it's not practical. It'd just be better to leave them as Arwen and Aragorn. I think Cate Blanchett will be included in the Hobbit. She'd make a great addition to the cast and if they don't include her like onscreen, she could do like the "narrator" voice where she explains everything that's going on. Christopher Lee is getting a bit too old to do Saruman again so I don't think he's taking up that role. John Rhys-Davis, I think, is definitly not doing Gloin. From all the articles and interviews I've seen on him, it's always been a no go on the Gloin role.

Simon Pegg just said in an interview that Martin Freeman really did get the role as Bilbo -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/ ... -interview

I hope it's true! I wonder if Peter Jackson will confirm it soon? Maybe tomorrow?

~Riella

^^ Simon Pegg? any chance that he might be Bilbo?

I would not want Simon Pegg as Bilbo.

I have not seen any of Martin Freeman's films, what other movies does he act in?

^^ Simon Pegg? any chance that he might be Bilbo?

Not from any of the reports I've heard. But his most recent interview indicates that Martin Freeman might indeed be Bilbo, as have some other reports across the internet ascribed to Deadline.

http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-n ... hobbit.php

Martin Freeman is currently playing Watson on BBC's Sherlock, and may be "best" known for playing Arthur Dent in the film version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy., and roles in Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead.

GB