As you’ve probably read by now soon-to-be ‘Hobbit’ director Guillermo del Toro and “Lord Of The Rings” mastermind Peter Jackson, recently held a web Q&A session / online chat where fans and geeks got to ask the two filmmakers tons of questions about the upcoming two-part prequel to the beloved ‘LOTR’ film trilogy.
Many little tidbits of information were given out in the discussion, but about Ian Holm – who played the older Bilbo Baggins in the LOTR films and everyone now agrees is too old to play the younger, ‘Hobbit’ version of the character – del Toro said he still planned to use the British actor “in some fashion.”
The Mexican director then told Empire that they had many casting choices for the role of Bilbo in mind, but it was far too early to say anything. Evidently there’s one actor that all the key ‘Hobbit’ players are keen on.
“We are writing based on [Ian Holm’s performance], but other than that, we have ideas [of who could play him],” Del Toro told us. “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!”
Many names were rumored and thrown around (Daniel Radcliffe, Jack Black), but apparently the frontrunner the filmmakers and producers want is the young, British “Atonement” star James McAvoy according to the unreliable British press. It’s a great choice to be sure, McAvoy can act the shit out of some scenes, but we remain skeptical and with a wait-and-see attitude (the U.K. is seriously the worst).
File it under rumors until confirmed, but yes, it would be nice. Meanwhile, Christopher Tolkien, the son of the books’ author J. R.R. Tolkien, is attempting a last minute bid to shut down the production of “The Hobbit,” because he claims the family and estate is still owed millions of pounds from New Line and is suing them for millions (it wouldn’t be the first time someone accused NL of withholding dollars from the billions raked in via the original ‘LOTR series’, hello Peter Jackson).
“Christopher Tolkien did not wish to be involved in the LOTR movies and I would assume his feelings are the same with these two films,” Jackson said during the online chat before Tolkien submitted his lawsuit. “I totally respect him for that since he is looking after the legacy of his father’s books and does not wish to be involved in someone else’s interpretation of those stories.”
Not be involved? Guess again.