As reported by TheOneRing.net, Sir Ian McKellen attended an all-night screening of “The Lord of Rings” in London over the weekend.
Ian addressed the crowd, providing a bit of “Hobbit” news. He’ll be heading to New Zealand in March to begin filming the first of the two planned films, due out Christmas 2011. He also told the giddy crowd that the script has been delivered to the studio, and that they’re working on the budget.
One more bit of interesting tidbits from Sir Ian’s comments. He said he ‘pretty well knows who will play Frodo’ in the movie.
Notice anything odd there? The titular “Hobbit” isn’t Frodo Baggins, he isn’t even alive during “The Hobbit“‘s timeline. The hobbit in question is in fact Bilbo Baggins.
Was that a slip up? Did McKellen just get the name of the character wrong? Or did he perhaps have a mental picture of the actor and just let slip a Hobbit role he has already played?
Could Elijah Wood be returning to Middle Earth, this time as Bilbo Baggins???
Now, of course, being the quintessential Hobbit geek, I may be reading too much into Sir Ian’s statement. However, think about these curious facts.
1. Peter Jackson, this time producing the films, with Guillermo del Toro directing, has already cast original LOTR actors in key roles (Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Andy Serkis as Gollum, Hugo Weaving as Elrond). Clearly they want a sense of familiarity with the characters, sets and locations (they’ve already begun rebuilding Hobbiton and are updating LOTR shooting locations). And with the makeup geniuses at WETA, an altered Elijah could do just fine as Bilbo.
2. Ian’s statements at the event. After stating he “pretty well knew” who’d be playing ‘Frodo’ (Bilbo), he also proclaimed that fans would be ‘very happy’ with the casting choice. Strange that he would be so sure of that. Granted, he’s a huge proponent of the franchise and of Jackson’s vision. But how could he be so certain that we’d be so happy with the key role for these films, unless perhaps it was because the choice is someone we’re already comfortable with in the big hairy feet?
3. Elijah’s schedule. After reading the OneRing.net article, I went over to IMDB to take a look at Elijah’s upcoming films.
Curious…
While he does have two films in development (meaning they’re still in the initial planning stages with no schedule attached), what films do you think he’s got coming up?
None
He did just finish voicing the lead character in the animated movie “9” coming out this fall and is currently voicing the lead in “Spyro”, which should wrap in a month or so, if not sooner. But other than that, there is nothing on his docket. And certainly nothing scheduled for say, March of next year….
Don’t you find it odd that one of the most popular young actors in Hollywood wouldn’t have any work scheduled? Could it be that he does in fact have work planned, yet can’t announce it just yet?
News on this should start leaking out in a week or so, and I’ll be watching.
But I can’t help but wonder if this wasn’t the first leak…
UPDATE 8/26: Elijah giveth, and Elijah taketh away. TheOneRing.net is reporting that Elijah Wood has “no interest” in playing Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit”.
So, now what? Who should play Bilbo?
