SarumanThanks to Ringer Diedye for the heads up on this one! Empire Magazine has an exclusive interview with Christopher Lee in which he clearly states he would be more than happy to reprise his role as Saruman in the upcoming ‘Hobbit’ Films. How you might ask? Well, Christopher Lee has some theories of his own in Empire’s complete article.

“I’d be interested in seeing how that transition from good to evil occurred and, yes, of course I would return to the role if I was asked.”

Read the full article over at EmpireOnline.com! [Read More]

Jack BlackThe names of Jack Black, James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe were making the rounds in the media this week, as rumors about who will be cast as Bilbo in the upcoming movie of “The Hobbit” begin to fly. According to Black, however, there’s no truth to that rumor. Black: “No, no. There’s no talk of it,” the comic proclaimed, denying the article’s validity. Of course, we could have told everyone that, as GDT posted the same thing on our message boards the day the original story came out:

“We will not choose casting until after we finish the scripts. Period. So, no- No talks are bound to take place with any actor to play Bilbo in the near future. Pages come first.” And, in another comment: “When its a fact- You’ll hear it from me first- and, very likely, right here.”

Read and participate in the discussion in this thread on our boards, or in Barliman’s chatroom. Thanks to message board member Elven for cluing us in to Black’s recent comments which can be found on MTV Movies Blog along with a video of the interview.

James McAvoySo we know PJ and GDT are on the same page with who they want to play Bilbo Baggins…but have they let that information leak? There are a few stories out today that peg fantasy-genre veteran James McAvoy as the leading candidate for the starring role in the upcoming ‘Hobbit’ Films. Check out the following links and then discuss the possiblities with fellow Ringers in our board and chatroom! [Showbiz Spy] [MSN Entertainment] [IMDB] Thanks to Mallory, Leah-Anne and Luis for the heads up!

Guillermo del ToroSeveral of you alerted us to this story from Empire online: As part of an exclusive chat with Del Toro for the next issue of Empire, on sale Friday, we spoke to him further about many details, including the casting of Bilbo.

“I can tell you that it’s down to a few names that we all agree upon. And that our first choice…completely, magically, we said the same name. All of us!”

Be sure to check the news stands for more this Friday. Read More

Empire Magazine Logo Seán writes: The interview in the upcoming Empire is presented in a preview on empireonline.com: On Bilbo: “In writing the part I obviously am thinking Old Bilbo and Ian Holm. We are writing based on that performance, but other than that, we have ideas. I can tell you that it’s down to a few names that we all agree upon. And that our first choice…completely, magically we said the same name. All of us! We said this is the guy we would talk to, but until the pages are there you have to let the character tell you who he wants to be played by. You can expect at least a year before we announce any casting.”

Future “Hobbit” director Guillermo del Toro and former “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson sat down with a world-wide internet audience and answered a lot more than the announced “20 questions” this weekend.

Hosted by Weta, there were a lot of minor details and significant confirmations and revelations about the gigantic production that will yield two “Hobbit” related movies, one in 2011 and the second in 2012.

Peter Jackson said,

“2009 will be dedicated to pre-production on both movies and 2010 will be the year we shoot both films back to back. Post productin follows one film at a time with The Hobbit being released Dec(ember) 2011, and F2 (film two) release(d) Dec(ember) 2012.”

Continue reading “Hobbit chat with Peter Jackson and G. del Toro peppered with big news (and little details about both films)”