There’s a teensy bit of casting news for “The Hobbit,” although no major list or anything awesome like that. Producer Peter Jackson told MTV.com that at this point, only three characters are returning: Gandalf, Elrond and possibly Galadriel.
“The world of ‘The Hobbit’ takes place 60 years before ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” Jackson said. “So, not a lot of the characters [such as Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas and Gimli] actually feature, because they weren’t around yet.”
Ian McKellen will be back to play Gandalf, the 2,000-year-old wizard, but Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett, who played Elrond and Galadriel in the other movies, have not yet signed. They’re elves, which means they’re immortal and don’t age and can thus be featured in “The Hobbit.”
The central character of Bilbo Baggins has not been cast yet, but likely won’t be played by Ian Holm, who played the role in the other movies. No word on whether Andy Serkis will return as the creature Gollum, but I can’t imagine anyone else in the role.
While Guillermo Del Toro is directing, Jackson is involved in writing the script, a task he savors. “Screenwriting is my favorite part of the whole process. I’m very happy being one of the writing team on ‘The Hobbit’ … it’s two movies, and we’ve written the first script, which the studio responded well to. And we’re now halfway through the second script. At this rate, we’re on target to begin shooting the first half of next year.”
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