Director Peter Jackson is finally ready to get some traction on The Hobbit, his long awaited sequel/prequel to his Lord of the Rings trilogy. and will reunite with Cate Blanchett.

Blanchett was Galadriel, Lady of Lothlorian in the cinematic J.R.R. Tolkein world and she will reprise her role for Jackson’s new film of the classic tale. Jackson said:

“Cate is one of my favorite actors to work with and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her reprise the role she so beautifully brought to life in the earlier films”

The Hobbit will be filmed in Digital 3D and is aiming for a December 2012 release date.

[image: New Line Cinema]

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Peter Jackson has announced most of the main cast members for his upcoming long awaited two part film, The Hobbit.

Peter Jackson has, at long last, made an official announcement about who will appear inThe Hobbit. He has confirmed Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, taking over the role originated by Ian Holm in The Lord of the Rings. A great many other names were released as well, almost all of whom make up the large company of Dwarves that hires Bilbo to be their ‘burgler’ before setting out to kill the dragon Smaug and recover the dwarven treasure the dragon uses as a bed.

Complementing Mr. Freeman are:

Richard Armitage (MI-5, Captain America) as Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the Dwarves, whose grandfather ruled the Lonely Mountain settlement destroyed by Smaug.

Aidan Turner (Being Human) and Rob Kazinsky (EastEnders) as Kili and Fili, nephews of Thorin.

Graham McTavish (Secretariat) as Dwalin, blue-bearded, first to arrive at the home of Bilbo Baggins.

John Callen as Oin, skillful fire-maker. Brother of Gloin.

Stephen Hunter (All Saints) as Bombur, the fat, sleepy and slow member of Thorin’s company.

Mark Hadlow (King Kong) as Dori, strongest of the Dwarves, who carries Bilbo on his back at one point.

Peter Hambleton (The Strip) as Gloin, brother of Oin, initially suspicious of Bilbo’s worth, but eventually convinced. Father of Gimli from The Lord of the Rings.

This is certainly good, finally a solid cast. These movies finally on track! Now we have to wait for confirmation of Ian McKellan as Gandalf, but he’s pretty much said he’s onboard already.

Source: /Film

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The Hobbit films are finally set to get underway this February as principal photography will finally begin with Peter Jackson officially directing! Rumor has it that Bilbo has been cast and will be played by British actor Martin Freeman.

An influx of familiar faces into Middle Earth is expected after the announcement that filming of The Hobbit will finally begin next February, bringing to an end years of delays.

It is thought that many of the lead roles in the big screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novel – a prequel to his The Lord of the Rings series – will be filled by British actors. Martin Freeman – who starred in TV’s The Office – is reported to be favourite to land the role of Bilbo Baggins. Other names touted for major roles are former Cold Feet star James Nesbitt and Irish actor Michael Fassbender, from Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

Finally some solid news on shooting! These movies have been in limbo for so long I was beginning to wonder if they would ever come to fruition. I’ll keep you posted on the happenings as they develop.

Source: The Independent

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Much to the joy of Lord of the Rings fans everywhere Peter Jackson is taking over as the director of the two upcoming Hobbit films after the surprising recent departure of Guillermo Del Toro.

In what amounts to a dream come true for fans of Middle Earth, Peter Jackson has decided to direct two installments of The Hobbit, trusted sources are telling me. His deal is being negotiated right now with Warner Bros , New Line, and MGM. He will shortly take the reins over from Guillermo del Toro, after Jackson extricates himself from other project obligations that caused Jackson and manager Ken Kamins to initially deny he would direct. While Jackson’s camp has been tight-lipped, I’m told that the case is being made to MGM’s owners to loosen the purse strings and make the movies happen. The impetus for these talks is that Jackson will be the director of both of The Hobbit films, which will be shot back-to-back in his New Zealand backyard. The secret’s out.

Great news! I can’t think of another director besides Guillermo Del Toro or Peter Jackson who could possibly do The Hobbit justice. Hopefully everything falls into place and they can get shooting so we can see The Hobbit: Part 1 in December of 2012 (as promised).

Source: Deadline

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Reportedly Tobey Maguire is being considered for the role of The Hobbit in the upcoming film.

Tobey Maguire is up for the lead role in the movie Bilbo Baggins based on the book series by JRR Tolkien.

A source said:

“The Hobbit team are deep in the casting process. Everyone is over the moon. Tobey is not only one of the most recognizable faces in , he is also one of the best actors.”

And while Maguire said he hasn’t spoken to the filmmakers, he did say:

“I love Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson and I certainly wouldn’t take myself out of the conversation.”

Maguire would be a good choice but I wouldn’t pic him over a lot of other actors like James McAvoy who is also being considered. I’m sure somebody will be officially locked down soon, they need to hurry up and start shooting this thing!

Source: Splash News

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Here’s a video interview that Peter Jackson did with The Hollywood Reporter where he clears the air about delays and casting rumors.

It’s nice to hear him actually say it, so hopefully we’ll be seeing the first film in late 2011! Only a couple years away! This is obviously going to be one of the biggest things to come out in the next few years. I’ll keep you posted on the happenings.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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It’s being reported that Peter Jackson could be adapting the book Mortal Engines for the big screen.

Peter Jackson is secretly working to adapt the Mortal Enginesfantasy novels for the screen.

The hush-hush project is understood to be in early development, with work on the first of the four books under way, industry sources say….

…A spokesman for Jackson did not deny the project was on the books yesterday, but said “any comment should come from Peter”.

Jackson, who is understood to have had the rights to the books for some time, was unavailable for comment.

The books, by Philip Reeve, are set in a post-apocalyptic world where cities have become giant vehicles and must consume each other to survive. Mortal Engines is the first book in the series, and has won a Nestle Smarties Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2002 Whitbread Award.

This sounds much more like a movie Peter Jackson should be working on, enough with these Lovely Bones type movies. He needs to make epics, sorry Peter, that’s all I’ll accept after you infuriated me with The Lovely Bones.

Source: The Dominion Post

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Peter Jackson wants us to stop listening to rumors and listen to him regarding The Hobbit. Here’s what he had to say:

“Nothing has changed as far as I am concerned…You don’t want to believe everything you read on the internet.  We were due to deliver the scripts and be shooting sometime around April and now I think I said in an interview we were shooting in June.  And somehow people are now saying the film is delayed.  As far as I am aware, they are not delayed at all.  I am not even sure when we are going to start shooting…we are delivering the scripts just after Christmas they’ll be finished and we’ll be shooting as soon as we possibly can.”

ALSO

IGN talked to Jackson about the many rumors around the casting of Bilbo Baggins, played in the Lord of the Rings films by Ian Holm. The big names who’ve been bandied about in relation to the character include Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, Martin Freeman and David Tennant. Some of those are reasonable, some (like Radcliffe) are fairly ludicrous. Jackson says that some were not under consideration, but refused to specify which, so as not to lend additional weight to names he didn’t cross off the list.

But he did mention that casting directors are auditioning unknowns for Bilbo as well. Which isn’t really out of the blue, and shouldn’t be taken to mean that the character will necessarily be played by an unknown.

I think the possibility of an unknown playing Bilbo is actually pretty high. Jackson did cast an unknown for the lead in his current film The Lovely Bones. I’m not against the idea, I just hope things keep moving forward without any other hang-ups.

Source: /Film

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Here’s the new poster for the upcoming Peter Jackson film The Lovely Bones.

This movie looks like it’s going to be distinctively different than previous Peter Jackson films, largely because it’s not an epic! I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles a much more private and personal story like this one. It’s out on December 11th.

Source: /Film

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Good news for fans of The Lord of the Rings films, Ian McKellan has confirmed that he’ll be happy to return for The Hobbit films as Gandalf the Grey.

The first thing he said might come as a shock: “I don’t want to play Gandalf again.” But calm down– what he means is that he doesn’t want to play any more Gandalf-like characters, which means that Michael Gambon can hang on to that role as Dumbledore. McKellen continued, “But I played the best wizard, and I’m happy to revisit him, which I shall do in The Hobbit with Guillermo del Toro.”

As for returning as Gandalf the Grey rather than The White, McKellen says he’s thrilled. “Grey Gandalf is my favorite. Peter Jackson’s too, we always preferred Gandalf the Grey. Peter liked him because he got down and dirty. He slept in the hedgerows; he was closer to the earth and not quite so spiritual. He’s also funnier — he’s got more variety to him. We thought there was more scope in that Gandalf.”

I’m glad he’s all about it, I can’t imagine anyone else playing the iconic wizard. Those two films are going to be so huge when they finally hit the big screens in a couple of years. I’m looking forward to them, but there’s not too much reason to get excited yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Source: Cinema Blend

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