After false starts, lawsuits, hype and drama, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro's cinematic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's mythic classic The Hobbit finally starts filming this July in New Zealand.
According to Sir Ian McKellen, who returns as the masterful wizard Gandalf, casting has commenced and is taking place in Los Angeles, New York and London.
"The script too proceeds," McKellen wrote on his official site. "The first draft is crammed with old and new friends, again on a quest in Middle Earth. The director Guillermo del Toro is now living in Wellington, close to the Jacksons' and the studio in Miramar."
It seems all that is left to decide is who's going to step into Bilbo Baggins' furry feet. We asked for your input last year, and you settled on actors as different as Simon Pegg, Paul Giamatti and Emile Hirsch.
So let's open up the floor once again in this new year. Drop your dreamcasting selections for Jackson and del Toro's possible Hobbit duology in the comments section below. From Bilbo to Smaug and beyond into comparatively esoteric characters, there are plenty of major and minor roles to fill. And the road goes ever on and on until 2012, when the film is tentatively scheduled to premiere.
Image courtesy New Line Cinema
See Also:
- Dreamcasting The Hobbit: Who’s Your Bilbo?
- 10 Knights to Follow Patrick Stewart and Peter Jackson
- Tolkien’s Spy Past Inspires Hunt for Hobbit, Rings Spooks
- Hobbit Director Guillermo del Toro on the Future of Film
- Apocalypse, and How: Viggo Mortensen’s Road Winds On
- Q&A: Sir Ian McKellen Takes On The Prisoner’s Number One Tormenter
