I'm still holding out for Alan Rickman as Smaug , Though Bill Nighy would be a Superlative choice for role too.

GB

The more I think about Armitage-as-Thorin the more I'm okay with it. Young, yes. Better-looking than one might expect, yes. But he has the requisite authority, and with a big beard and everything I think he'll be fine.

I just compared a pic of the young Ian Holm to one of Freeman, and I think the resemblance is close enough to make it work. There were other actors who were rumored for this role that might have done quite nicely on their own (i.e. James McAvoy) but did not look like Holm at all.

so.....they have cast some people for The Hobbit......
I am wondering about the guy the picked for Thorin. He doesn't look much like a dwarf......

I'm still holding out for Alan Rickman as Smaug , Though Bill Nighy would be a Superlative choice for role too.

Oooh, Rickman would be amazing! I love the timbre of his voice! Another would-be great dragon voice is Christopher Lee, 'though in this case, people would relate it too much to Saruman.

As long as Armitage can portray a believable and convincing strong and authoritative Thorin, pretty well anything can be done makeup/prosthetic-wise to make him appear as that older and austere dwarf.

Yes, Freeman and Holm do have a somewhat uncanny resemblance. So cool!

Haha! Speaking of Armitage, look what just appeared on TORn! Click on the photo to enlarge. Not bad. Not bad at all! Except, as another mod said elsewhere, he needs that blue hood and silver tassle! And his face still looks too youthful for my liking, but this was a quick photoshop job by one of the Ringers there to give us an idea ... since we are not the only ones who have questioned this casting decision.

Wow, I'm getting excited. The next movie to look forward to after VDT!

The first thing I noticed when I looked at Martin Freeman's picture was that he reminds me greatly of Ian Holm. I couldn't be more pleased! (Same for that photo of Armitage.)

I noted when reading about the barrel ride in The Hobbit last night that it mentions Gandalf "finishing his business far away and preparing to come in search of Thorin's company." With the White Council storyline in mind, I would not be surprised at all if that is where they make the cut between the first and second film. It would work well for the first movie's conclusion, and now I'm hoping this will be the case!

*is another mod who said elsewhere*

I can't claim it looks much like Armitage--though I tried--but he does have a blue hood.

*is glad Kate mentioned the filmmakers might keep Armitage/Thorin's hair dark* It's hard to shade with Paint.

As far as looks go, I think I'm satisfied with the casting. But I'm relatively easy to please on that point.

Lady G!

Mel. And wow! Lovely depiction of the grand and great Thorin Oakenshield. Bravo!

A reminder of this cool portrayal, now that things seem to be moving ahead with The Hobbit. Love it!

Also, remember to cross your fingers and furry toes for keeping The Hobbit in New Zealand!

Yay for casting news!

Martin Freeman as Bilbo: he does look like Ian Holm, which is a very good thing. I saw a few of the movies he was in, but it's been awhile so I don't remember if I liked him or not, but I think he will be good.

Armitage as Thorin: he is a good actor, but he is a lot younger than I thought Thorin should be. Makeup can do wonders, but I don't think his voice is deep enough. I'm sure he'll do well though.

Bill Nighy as Smaug: ooh, I was not expecting this, but I think it's great!

Did anyone else notice that they only listed half of the Dwarves? What about the rest of Thorin's company?

I noted when reading about the barrel ride in The Hobbit last night that it mentions Gandalf "finishing his business far away and preparing to come in search of Thorin's company." With the White Council storyline in mind, I would not be surprised at all if that is where they make the cut between the first and second film. It would work well for the first movie's conclusion, and now I'm hoping this will be the case!

Great idea! That would be a superb place to have the cut.

That picture has to be one of the movie posters, jo. It just has to be.

I wonder, when they start filming The Hobbit movie, how they will do the hair and makeup on Martin Freeman -- especially the hair. I mean will they give him the typical brown curly hair that Frodo and friends had in LOTR? Or will they make it more white-ish in order to match how they did Ian Holm?

Personally, I hope they make it brown. It would match his looks more, and I would prefer that he looks younger. Having white hair would make him look too old. Bilbo was 50, after all, in The Hobbit -- and in Hobbit-years that's about 35. 35 is too young to have white hair (in most cases,lol). Plus, it's the same age Frodo was in LOTR and he still had brown hair.

~Riella

I'm fairly certain they'll try to make him look a bit like Ian Holm's Bilbo in the Flashback to the finding the Ring scene. His hair was a bit curly and brownish in that scene.

GB

Is Nighy confirmed yet? People are talking as though he is, but I don't remember hearing anything on the subject....

I've always thought the first part should end in Lake Town, with the singing of the one ballad about the prophesied return. 'Twould set things up very nicely.

I haven't heard of any confirmation on who's playing Smaug yet.

GB

theonering.net says that Bill Nighy will be the voice for Smaug

aragorn2, Nighy is under "SPECULATED ROLES" for Smaug in that article on TORn. I was fooled by this, too, at first.

Mmm, lysander, I do like your idea for the ending of film 1.

There was a good deal of speculation on where the gap between the two films would occur, and the idea came to me while rereading The Hobbit last summer. I actually planned out a good ending scene for the first film and a good beginning one for the second, but I can't remember them in much detail now. Maybe I should use this as an excuse to reread once more.