Here is the Hollywood Reporter article.
Ian McKellen has signed on to be Gandalf again, Elijah Wood has signed to be Frodo, Andy Serkis has agreed to return as Gollum and Cate Blanchett will play Galadriel once again. Orlando Bloom might also be returning, but no deal signed yet.
The first of the two films will be released December 2012, and the second will be released December 2013. Both will be shot in 3D.
We know and have a thread on this.
What’s Frodo doing in The Hobbit? Even with stretching it out to two movies, I can’t see any way he’d show up until well past the logical ending point.
Frame story.
I’ll ignore the 3D part as that only serves to reinforce the possibility that this time, the fourth time around or so, 3D may not be the passing fad that I am desperately hoping it will be. Gaah!
But.. Galadriel? Frodo? Appearing in The Hobbit? 
Legolas I could see as a wood-elf chillin’ hard in the 'wood, but Galadriel?
And two films? Where will the breaking point be? When they escape from Elvish captivity in barrels to Laketown?
Part of the reason for breaking it into two films is to include the White Council’s attack on Dol Guldur. Galadriel will appear in that part. Frodo? No idea.
From what I’ve heard, part one is going to be The Hobbit, while part two is everything after until FOTR. That leaves space for pretty much anyone in the fellowship to be in the movie.
Good fortune that Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis will be in it, I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I expected that’s what they would add to make it worthy of two films. I still wonder where the break point will be.
Yeah, Galadriel is the sort of person who could show up just about anywhere, and if you want to toss in cameos, one can even make a case that Legolas probably showed up in the book (though not by name). But Frodo wasn’t even born until, what, 28 years after the Quest of Erebor?
Any word on Elrond?
That is incorrect I believe. They may mix in some non-Hobbit stuff, but 90%+ of the plot will come from The Hobbit.
Wow, check out the other thread, folks. We’ve discussed it.
Old Bilbo(still negotiating with Ian Holm) is telling the story to Frodo. We open with Frodo wanting to learn more about Bilbo’s big adventure. He tells it to Frodo and we flash-back to the Hobbit for the movie.
That’s really it for Elijah Wood.
So he’s basically playing the part of Fred Savage.
(Maybe they could get Peter Falk to stand in for the role of “old Bilbo”)
Thankfully, no kissing.
ohhh - Mandy Ptankin as Tom Bombadill - that word - it doesn’t mean what you think it means.
That would require some pretty good CGI effects, considering how long he’s been dead.
Who? Fred Savage is alive. Peter Falk is alive.
Wow, I could have sworn Falk died several years ago. I remember being so sad! Who the hell am I thinking of, then?
Maybe I misremembered this:
Damn…the second part will be in 2013? I guess that means we’ll never see it, considering the coming Apocalypse…
Hope the first part doesn’t have too much of a cliff hanger.
-XT
You better get in that theater pronto to see part one. It comes out only a few days before the end of the world.
I’ll definitely be seeing it before the end, even if I have too (gulp) stand in line! :eek: It will make my last few hours really good, especially if I load up on all the stuff I’m not supposed to eat anymore (and maybe use some substances I haven’t used in a while)…
-XT