Hobbit movie progressing

[Tuor in Gondolin]

The Hollywood Reporter says:

Casting on “The Hobbit” begins this week, with wide auditions expected for each part except Gandalf, which is being reserved for Ian McKellen, who played the wizard in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

“We’re auditioning for every role,” Jackson said in an interview, adding he is a big believer in casting a wide net to better match actors with the roles.....
Jackson denied that he had settled on any actors besides McKellen and pooh-poohed Web chatter that he has approached James McAvoy for a key role.

“Apart from Ian McKellen, who we obviously want to return as Gandalf, we are not really offering any roles to anybody until we’ve done a casting sweep,” Jackson said.

Casting is being handled out of Los Angeles and London.....

“(These movies) have never been a star-driven vehicle. The star is (author J.R.R.) Tolkien and the world he created. We are not under any pressure. We want to find the right people. Casting someone to portray a hobbit is not as easy as you might imagine. They have to have a particular type of physical appearance and a sensibility. And the same with an elf or a dwarf. These are fantastical characters, but you’ve got to find the right people to play them, the right humans to translate these characters.”

Jackson also denied earlier reports that production on “Hobbit” was delayed.
“It’s not,” he said, adding that the script for the first movie is completed and that collaborators Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and del Toro are in the middle of writing the second. They hope to deliver drafts to Warner Bros. and MGM, which are jointly backing the films, around Christmastime.

“We were always planning to shoot around April or May next year, and as far as I’m aware, we’re pretty much on target for that. It depends on how quickly the studio greenlights the film. It’s not in our hands. But as long as we‘re shooting next year, we’re fine.”

It would be interesting to see a list of the major/contributing parts being cast for. Among other things, it would give a hint as to how/if additional female roles will be contrived. I suppose you could have female spiders. How about making the Master of Laketown a woman. And how worried should one be that PJ and friends seem to have their hot little hands all over the scripts, considering how TTT and RoTK were-ah- emended.

[Mugwump]

Originally Posted by Tuor in Gondolin

with wide auditions expected for each part except Gandalf, which is being reserved for Ian McKellen....

And (I hope) Gollum? They're not thinking of casting someone other than Serkis, are they?!

[Morsul the Dark]

Auditions in LA... wonder where and when because I have Sooo much disposable income just to go over there...

[Mugwump]

Happily, I'm already guaranteed a role: ticket buyer at my local movie theater.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Good point about Andy Serkis. I assume that was just
an oversight. One possible ending for the second movie
could be Gollum leaving the mountain chain to go search
for Thief Baggins.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Mugwump

And (I hope) Gollum? They're not thinking of casting someone other than Serkis, are they?!

I wish they would.. and McKellen. Seldom have performances been so over rated.... Ah well I tried to watch Pan's Labyrith again the other night and once again fell asleep after 5 minutes so I am really not hopeful about this in any way...

[Mugwump]

I disagree with you about McKellen and Serkis, but I agree about Pan's Labyrith.

For all the complaining people do about Peter Jackson's version of LotR, he still did a magnificent job and it's going to be incredibly hard for anyone to measure up to that standard.

[Mithalwen]

I thought the costumes etc were beautiful but I have never managed to sit through it all again. It just about worked in the cinema when it all washed over me but the CGI looks very dated now IMO. And the endless action scenes at the expense of character and plot bore me. But I am not the demographic they were aiming at.

I would have loved to see someone else try. I hate the idea that PJ is the only person who can interpret Tolkien. As a visual interpretation I much preferred the London version of the musical and the radio version has a hold on me that has endured twentyfive years.

I think McKellen is a lazy and mannered actor. He seems to be the same in everything these days and he always seemed to me to be Ian McKellen being Gandalf rather than just Gandalf. Vocally Peter Woodthorpe was incomparable as Gollum, visually Michel Therriault was superb without CGI. Some of Jackson's casting was great even if the actors were not as described in the books
but these two I could do without.

[Mugwump]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I hate the idea that PJ is the only person who can interpret Tolkien.

There is no widespread acceptance of such an idea. Like all good myth, Tolkien's world can, has been, and will be interpreted by many. There can be many good interpretations and versions of the same myth, and they need not all agree in every particular.

[skip spence]

Apparently Time Warner/New Line has made some new cast announcements:

Cate Blanchett will reprise her role from Lord of The Rings trilogy as Galadriel, the Lady of Lothlorien.

Ken Stott (Charlie Wilson's War) will play the Dwarf Lord Balin

Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who) will play the wizard Radagast the Brown

Well-known Swedish actor, Mikael Persbrandt (Everlasting Moments) will play the shape-shifter Beorn.

British actor Ryan Gage (Outlaw) will play Drogo Baggins, with New Zealand actors Jed Brophy (Lord of The Rings trilogy, District 9) playing the role of the dwarf Nori, and William Kircher (Legend of the Seeker) rounding out the company of Thorin Oakensheild in role of the dwarf Bifur.

The announcement was made jointly today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema, Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.


http://geektyrant.com/news/2010/12/7...-mccoy-an.html

[Tuor in Gondolin]

(Deadline Breaking News)

After New Line Cinema announced Cate Blanchett's return to Middle Earth for 'The Hobbit,' I'm told that Orlando Bloom will likely be the next original cast member set for an encore. He's near a deal to return as Elven archer Legolas. And it's for more than a cameo, I'm told. I'd have expected them to first set Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Andy Serkis (Gollum) or Hugo Weaving (Elrond), whose characters figured in the book. But those talks have been arduous and aren't completed yet.

Much as I like Sylvester McCoy it seems like it's a typical PJ and Boyens
"creative" move to expand the character.

And can anyone else imagine Leggy leading waves of elves down the
sides of Erebor on skateboards to attack the goblins?

Still, Agent Elrond should be better cast to lead the White Council then in the movie FotR.

And personally, I still think it would be less of a distortion then other PJ moves
to age Aragorn about 10 years and have him with a tryst (quite chaste ) with Arwen
and participating in the attack on Dol Guldur.

[Mister Underhill]

I decided to merge skip's thread in with this one since Hobbit threads on similar subjects are starting to proliferate and this thread already had some discussion of recent casting news.

...and on the news of the return of Legolas in a role that's "more than just a cameo" -- *brrr*.

[Morthoron]

And so, a simple but well-told linear quasi-epic comedy is buried in indigestible fluff. Rather like a cat vomiting tinselly hairballs on Christmas Eve.