It looks like it will, indeed, happen. Let’s have this thread, if you all don’t object, to talk about it.
The cast has just been unofficially announced. It sounds quite likely.
Tim from the Office is Bilbo. Not sure who the others are.
Here is Aint-it-Cool’s report on it.
Martin Freeman – Bilbo Baggins
Richard Armitage - Thorin Oakenshield
Aidan Turner - Kili
Rob Kazinsky – Fili
Graham McTavish – Dwalin
John Callen – Oin
Stephen Hunter – Bombur
Mark Hadlow – Dori
Peter Hambleton – Gloin
I read this as Morgan Freeman. Confusion ensued.
I like that Arthur Dent is now Bilbo Baggins. Or, you know, will be, assuming this ever gets made. Fingers crossed!
Also: Aidan Turner is a gorgeous man. So is Richard Armitage. I’m having trouble imagining them with the beards and possible facial prosthetics used for in LotR. They’ll do great jobs, I think.
Not great news in my opinion. I always found Martin Freeman to be a bit of a one trick pony. Guy from the office=Arthur Dent=Bilbo. His mannerisms will be just the same as always, and that is most definately not how I would picture Bilbo.
Hmmm, they haven’t cast Balin yet. Martin freeman is an excellent choice though, as are Richard Armitage and Aidan Turner.
Does it really matter who plays Ori, Bifur, or Dwalin? Does anyone besides Thorin or Balin have more than 5 lines in the book? Though since they are making 2 movies maybe they will get 9 or 10 lines.
I am curious about Beorn and the voice of Smaug (John Rhys-Davies would be an interesting choice)
Brian
They should have cast Rhys-Davies as Gloin (father of Gimli). I heard there was an uncanny resemblence.
Who will play Smaug?
And will they bastardize the story to add a love interest? (Other than Gollum, of course)
He didn’t want to return. He had a tough time of it, physically, after a bad reaction to the prosthetic make-up.
“Get busy eatin’, or get busy dyin’. That’s goddamned right.”
There’s only one choice for Thorin: BRIAN BLESSED.
Latest rumour is that they’re checking out locations in the U.K. as there is some sort of industrial action going on in New Zealand amongst actors and/or film technicians.
So are you hoping that Peter Jackson ups the ante on these making them “better” than the LOTR trilogy or would you prefer them to be as similar as possible (f/x, cinematography, scoring) to the trilogy so they blend together?
It’s hard to imagine the cinematography or scoring being better (I thought the score, particularly, was fantastic) but it would be nice for the score to have some thematic ties to the trilogy. It shouldn’t be identical, but recognizably related.
As for the f/x, go ahead and use whatever advances have been developed in the last 8 years as long as continuity is preserved (for example, Gollum can look more “real” but shouldn’t look “different.”)
An Australian Union instigated a boycott of the movie. They wanted some sort of collective bargaining (which is apparently illegal in NZ). The boycott has been lifted, but it may be too late. Warner’s is flying down monday to see if filming in NZ is viable (they are worried there may be a later strike)
(lots of she-said/she-said here)
A bunch of techs actually marched to STOP the boycott (being worried they will lose thier jobs if the movie films elsewhere)
Brian
I wonder how they’ll handle the elves? They’re much less serious and dignified, much more the magical Fair Folk, in The Hobbit than in LOTR.
They’ll have to write in a major female character of some sort. I predict that we’ll see a couple of young hot teenage hobbits, perhaps Camellia Sackville and Daisy Boffin, who stow away in the dwarves’ wagon as they leave Hobitton. Competition for Bilbo’s affection leads to hijinks ensuing…
One of the rumored contenders is Stephen Fry. Interesting, and I love Fry, but I’m not sure he’s quite right.
It’s easy to go straight for a rumbling bass/baritone ominous-sounding voice, and there needs to be an element of that in there, but Tolkien’s dragons were almost as formidable in their abilities with their voices as with their physical presence. From that standpoint I think Fry is an excellent candidate; I think he’d nail the witty, intelligent, even seductive aspects of the voice. I’m just not sure he could turn that voice scary (unless they used some sort of processing).
Bill Nighy has also been suggested as a potential voice of Smaug. In my head, he’s not quite as “smooth” as Fry, but his voice might be more versatile.
Who plays Gandalf?
And the climactic hero of the story (though he doesn’t get a lot of lines) is Bard – who plays Bard?
I love the casting of Martin Freeman!
And it’s rumored that Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis will reprise their roles, but that contracts are still being negotiated.
It would be strange to have a new Gandalf. But I think Bill Nighy would be excelllent as Smaug!