Geordie the billy goat who has spent to the last 20 years grazing on the side of a New Plymouth street is to star in The Hobbit.

The goat who was in the news after he was spray-painted twice by vandals last year landed the role after a Facebook page established for him was spotted by a scout for the movie to be directed by Sir Peter Jackson, The Taranaki Daily News reported.

“A scout rang and asked if we would allow Geordie to be in the movie”, said owner Julie Field.

“We said ‘yes’ and the scout went back to the producer, who saw photos of Geordie and wanted him”. [Read More]

The bickering is over, the director is on the mend, and The Hobbit is about to start shooting. Hobbiton, near Matamata, has announced it will be closed for five weeks from February 14. While Matamata locals were tight-lipped about any goings-on, Matamata-Piako Mayor Hugh Vercoe confirmed filming was due to start and that the Hobbiton site – used for Shire scenes in The Lord of the Rings and now rebuilt for The Hobbit – would be a closed set.

“I’m just aware that filming is about to start,” Mr Vercoe said.

Production company Three Foot 7 Ltd has had resource consent to film on the site since December 2009. Hobbiton Movie Set and Farm Tours refused to comment. Hobbit publicist Melissa Booth denied the film had a start date. More..

Take a look at our collection of Hobbiton pics, dating back to 2000! Hobbiton in Pictures

Like the character Bilbo Baggins he’s going to portray in the upcoming “Hobbit” films, Martin Freeman is daunted but excited about the journey he’s about to embark upon.

From Yahoo News:

“It’s very daunting – the daunting part is leaving home… I’m a real homebody, even before we had children, I was a homebody, so with children it’s like aww… I’m very excited though,” he told Modcast host Eddie Piller.

Martin initially turned down the role because of his commitments to the BBC detective drama.

“I had to turn it down because of being contractually obliged to do the second series of Sherlock for the BBC, which we are doing in the middle of this year,” he recalled. “I turned it down with a very heavy heart because things like this don’t come your way very often. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as far as scale is concerned. It’s a huge, huge deal. But I was contracted to do Sherlock. I wanted to do both. When I found out I couldn’t do both it was very sad. And then it was very flattering when Peter Jackson rearranged the filming around my availability.”

Purchase any signed copies of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit on Ebay recently? We hope not! Looks like the UK police are investigating a 65 year old man who was selling forged signatures of Winston Churchill, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and others. [Read More]

When we posted a sketch of Smaug, little did we know the passion it would unleash. One of the great mysteries about “The Hobbit” films will be the design of Smaug, one of the most influential dragons in all of popular culture. Many have an idea of what the great worm should look like but only people behind the scenes know for sure and they aren’t talking. Thanks to forum member and Ringer Blueman for emailing us his sketch (on the right) to get the party started.  The sketch that gets the most ‘Likes’ will win a copy of the BBC Lord of the Rings radio play! Good luck to you all! [TORN Facebook]