An anonymous Ringer sends in this heads up about a Hobbit casting call in Tauranga, New Zealand:
The Bay of Plenty Times (Tauranga’s regional newspaper) had an ad in the weekend edition’s classifieds. It was an official casting call for The Hobbit, asking for men under 5’7″ and women under 5’2″, for filming in Matamata in early 2011. They said they will be in Tauranga on Wed 24th Nov between 2 and 4pm at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, cnr Devonport Rd and 11th Ave. Gutted that I’m 5’9″!
If anyone can scan the ad, please send it our way! [Contact TORn] [Map of Location]
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Attendees of the Dr. Who Panel at the Armageddon Expo in Auckland yesterday are saying that Sylvester McCoy has confirmed that he has been cast in the role of Radagast the wizard in “The Hobbit.” Rumors have been flying about McCoy having auditioned, some thinking he might have even been cast as Bilbo. As early as August, McCoy started hinting that he had been been cast in a role that was not Bilbo. However earlier this week it started leaking in earnest (from McCoy himself), that he had been cast as Radagast. Confirming the news yesterday at Armageddon adds one more piece to the casting puzzle and confirms that Radagast the Brown, contemporary of Gandalf and Saruman and lover of nature and animals, will indeed be part of “The Hobbit” movies. Thanks to message board member, Earl, for the great tip!
UPDATE: Sylvester McCoy Cast But Not Signed Yet
Here’s more confirmation lending veracity to the above story.
The New Zealand Herald is reporting that Sylvester McCoy flew out to Wellington last Thursday to meet with PJ and Philippa about The Hobbit, and he confirms that he has been cast as Radagast the Brown, but he hasn’t signed any contracts yet.
His journey into Middle-earth began back in 2007 when he met Peter Jackson during the New Zealand tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of King Lear.
About the turmoil surrounding the location shooting for The Hobbit, Sylvester McCoy says, “Everybody wants to make it here [i.e., New Zealand]. It would be horrible if it was made anywhere else.”
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There’s been a lot of discussion since yesterday’s casting announcements about Richard Armitage playing the role of Thorin Oakenshield. After all, he doesn’t ‘seem‘ to fit the role after a quick glance. Well, thanks to Photoshop, and Ringer Ringer WouterG, we can at least get a better picture of what he might appear like in The Hobbit films. Click the image for a larger version. Enjoy!
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News is fast and globally furious on “The Hobbit” front with many places reporting that the deal for the films to leave New Zealand is already done. But a spokesman from Wingnut films says there may yet be a possibility of keeping things on the island nation.
The spokesman from Wingnut films says:
New Zealand is Middle Earth and we’re still fighting to keep it that way, but it seems we’re fighting a losing battle!
Warner’s are doing what they can to keep the film here too, but with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, they need to take steps to protect their investment. They’ve been nothing but supportive.
Unfortunately, the actions of Equity/MEAA have made it hard for NZ to be viewed as the safe and settled one of these films.
Stay tuned and keep the information flowing to Spymaster@theonering.net
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For all the new viewers of TheOneRing.net, you’ll want to get yourself acquainted with the ‘spy reports’ we post from time to time. These reports usually come to use from everyday folks who just happen to come across some juicy tidbits. So while we can’t say for 100% they are accurate, we can at least whet your whistle!
And along those lines, we get this report from Ringer Spy Viggo Yearning:
My brother works at Katmandu in the city (Melbourne) and who should walk in looking for appropriate attire for New Zealand but Sylvester McCoy! He was more than willing to discuss The Hobbit, and is indeed playing Radagast the brown. He said he was “some wizard”, to which my brother offered up “Radagast the brown?” and Sylvester said “Yes, that’s it!”. He then confessed he couldn’t find him anywhere in the book. Unfortunately my brother isn’t as big a fan as myself, so didn’t give Sylvester the grilling I certainly would have! He did offer up this interesting tidbit, though: He was pipped at the post by Ian Holm to play Bilbo in the original lotr trilogy!
We reported a bit ago that we believed that McCoy would be playing this role, but it is nice to get additional ammo to make that claim! Radagast is not in the Hobbit, but in the scripts we have seen, he has an expanded role in the production.
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The incomparable Richard Taylor has called a meeting of film technicians to discuss “The Hobbit” status for New Zealand set to start Wednesday at 5 p.m. With the future destination of the two-part mega-budgeted films up in the air, Taylor and others in the New Zealand film industry are hoping to keep the Peter Jackson produced and directed project on the island nation. Many were alerted via Facebook and were urged to phone or forward the message to others.
It seems reasonable to assume this could be a reaction to an actor’s meeting that we have reported here. You can read the whole message after the break. Continue reading “New Zealand film technicians called to meet to discuss ‘Hobbit’ and industry future”
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