Peter Jackson announces The Hobbit's cast, including Martin Freeman as Bilbo!

io9

Martin Freeman has officially landed the part of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Hobbit movie. But wait — there's more good news. David Tennant may still have a part in this fantasy epic after all.

According to Deadline, Jackson has finally announced that Freeman will play Bilbo:

"Despite the various rumors and speculation surround this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us... There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin. He is intelligent, funny, surprising and brave — exactly like Bilbo and I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce that he is our Hobbit."

And that's good enough for us, we're all big Freeman fans here. This was a wise casting decision. But that's not all, Jackson released a list of dwarf castings. Here they are:

Richard Armitage (Captain America) will play Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the Dwarves who all wanted to reclaim their ancient dwellings inside the Lonely Mountain which was destroyed by the dragon Smaug and leader of Bilbo's Dwarf pack as well.

Aidan Turner (smoldering hot vampire from BBC's Being Human) and Rob Kazinsky (EastEnders, Timeless) have been cast as the Dwarf brothers Kili and Fili. They're the nephews of Thorin and a bit comical at times. They are definitely the youngest of the bunch.

Graham McTavish (Secretariat) is Dwalin, the first dwarf to arrive at the home of Bilbo Baggins at Bag End.

John Callen will play Oin, a dwarf who's not crazy about Bilbo.

Stephen Hunter (Spirited) has been cast as Bombur, the fattest and sleepiest of the bunch.

Mark Hadlow (King Kong) is Dori, the biggest and strongest dwarf who constantly carries Bilbo about.

And finally, Peter Hambleton will play Gloin, brother of Oin. Also it should be noted that Gloin is Father of Gimli's Dad (from The Lord of the Rings).

As far as the non-dwarf roles (Elves and Wizards) Deadline is reporting that David Tennant (among a few other surprising names) is still in the running:

None of this is set, but I've heard that James Nesbitt and David Tennant are up for roles, and that Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis are expected to reprise Gandalf and Gollum, though I don't believe they have made deals. Stephen Fry, Saoirse Ronan and Bill Nighy (as the voice of the dragon Smaug) are possible participants, and Aiden Turner is in contention for the Elf King.

I hope Ian McKellen does repirse his role as Gandalf.sSubZerOo

i thought freeman couldnt play Bilbo because of his commitment to Sherlock?

Someone tell him to never wink again because that is just horrific. On topic now I am glad that they are finally getting around to making this movie. xTheExploited

Actually he looks more hobbit like in that photo.

[QUOTE="xTheExploited"]Someone tell him to never wink again because that is just horrific. On topic now I am glad that they are finally getting around to making this movie. sSubZerOo

Actually he looks more hobbit like in that photo.

does he look like a hobbit in this photo?

(im assuming this is fan made)

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"] I hope Ian McKellen does repirse his role as Gandalf.aaronmullan

im sorry but I couldnt care less

Rad. I think he'll make a great Bilbo. I loved him on The Office.rragnaar

I agree. I think he was a great choice. I'm looking forward to it.

I read over the topic title fast and thought it said Morgan Freeman was going to play Bilbo.

I read over the topic title fast and thought it said Morgan Freeman was going to play Bilbo.

sogni_belli

:lol:

That'd be great. Maybe he could do a voice over or something.

What about Balin? He's definitely one of the ranking dwarves in the group.

Also.... Gimli is the son of Gloin.....

Decent looking cast, but I didn't particularly care for the LotR trilogy, so I'm not going to get too excited. And I keep misreading a certain word in the thread title every damn time I see it.SeraphimGoddess

oh, which word is it?:D

Was he the one who played Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings?

Thats a good casting decision.

[QUOTE="SeraphimGoddess"]Decent looking cast, but I didn't particularly care for the LotR trilogy, so I'm not going to get too excited. And I keep misreading a certain word in the thread title every damn time I see it.TheShadowLord07

oh, which word is it?:D

I keep seeing it as Morgan Freeman and it makes me excited every time at the thought. :x

[spoiler] I shall ignore the obvious one. [/spoiler]

Even though Morgan Freeman would make a more interesting Hobbit, I am pleased with this casting decision.

Awesome

I'm so happy that they have started getting things going now. I'm a huge LOTR fan and I expect nothing but two great movies from Jackson.

Ha, I read that as Morgan Freeman. That would be awesome.

They could have just kept Ian Holm...

He did a flashblack in Fellowship of the Ring and looked rather young.

But oh well. *shrugs*

Was he the one who played Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings?

Hexagon_777

No it is not. Ian Holm was the actor who played Bilbo in the LOTR movies.

[QUOTE="Hexagon_777"]Was he the one who played Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings?ExoticAnimal

[QUOTE="ExoticAnimal"][QUOTE="Hexagon_777"]Was he the one who played Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings?Hexagon_777

I think it really won't affect the character at all because Ian Holm is pretty old right now and they are basing this movie off Bilbo's adventure when he was young. Maybe they might bring in Ian Holm for the 2nd Hobbit movie to tie things up between the Hobbit and LOTR.

i thought freeman couldnt play Bilbo because of his commitment to Sherlock?

Dr_Manfattan

I think he would make a great bilbo. Pity the production of the Hobbit may be moved away from New Zealand thanks to a bunch of morons in Australia and here. Durpa durpa.

They use taller actors to scale things in scenes where they need to look shorter. For example, the casting for the Hobbit was looking for people shorter than 1.4m and taller than 2.09m. That way a 6 foot tall person is still going to look like a dwarve lol.

I think he would make a great bilbo. Pity the production of the Hobbit may be moved away from New Zealand thanks to a bunch of morons in Australia and here. Durpa durpa.

October_Tide

I think he would make a great bilbo. Pity the production of the Hobbit may be moved away from New Zealand thanks to a bunch of morons in Australia and here. Durpa durpa.

October_Tide

I heard something about that. Something to do with them being on strike?

[QUOTE="October_Tide"]

I think he would make a great bilbo. Pity the production of the Hobbit may be moved away from New Zealand thanks to a bunch of morons in Australia and here. Durpa durpa.

Hexagon_777

Basically film unions started complaining about the terms of their contracts and working conditions, then an Australian film association or film actors association, not sure what the name was, called for a boycott of the film. Things got out of hand, and Warner Brothers is thinking about moving production over seas.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/govt-pulling-all-stops-save-hobbit-3848850

There have been a lot of news stories here, it would take a while to post them all.

[QUOTE="Hexagon_777"]

[QUOTE="ExoticAnimal"]No it is not. Ian Holm was the actor who played Bilbo in the LOTR movies.ExoticAnimal

I think it really won't affect the character at all because Ian Holm is pretty old right now and they are basing this movie off Bilbo's adventure when he was young. Maybe they might bring in Ian Holm for the 2nd Hobbit movie to tie things up between the Hobbit and LOTR.

Actually Bilbo should look physically the same in both, as his possession of the One Ring kept him from aging. But, the fact is, that Ian Holm is old and not in the best of health these days. He's ether unable and/or unwilling to do it so...

Also, it's a bit odd that both Lucas from Spooks and Sean from Eastenders are playing dwarves when they're both 6 foot +.angelkimne

Ehh, John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in The Lord of the Rings was the tallest member of the main cast.

Ehh, John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in The Lord of the Rings was the tallest member of the main cast.

worlock77

[QUOTE="ExoticAnimal"]

[QUOTE="Hexagon_777"]Noooooooo! It's The Dark Knight and Iron Man 2 all over again! :cry:

worlock77

I think it really won't affect the character at all because Ian Holm is pretty old right now and they are basing this movie off Bilbo's adventure when he was young. Maybe they might bring in Ian Holm for the 2nd Hobbit movie to tie things up between the Hobbit and LOTR.

Actually Bilbo should look physically the same in both, as his possession of the One Ring kept him from aging. But, the fact is, that Ian Holm is old and not in the best of health these days. He's ether unable and/or unwilling to do it so...

I'm quite uncertain but does Bilbo have the ring yet in the Hobbit?

[QUOTE="worlock77"]

Ehh, John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in The Lord of the Rings was the tallest member of the main cast.

angelkimne

[QUOTE="worlock77"]

[QUOTE="ExoticAnimal"]

I think it really won't affect the character at all because Ian Holm is pretty old right now and they are basing this movie off Bilbo's adventure when he was young. Maybe they might bring in Ian Holm for the 2nd Hobbit movie to tie things up between the Hobbit and LOTR.

ExoticAnimal

Actually Bilbo should look physically the same in both, as his possession of the One Ring kept him from aging. But, the fact is, that Ian Holm is old and not in the best of health these days. He's ether unable and/or unwilling to do it so...

I'm quite uncertain but does Bilbo have the ring yet in the Hobbit?

[QUOTE="worlock77"]

Ehh, John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in The Lord of the Rings was the tallest member of the main cast.

angelkimne

I don't know if you have watched the special features or not but they showed how they were able to make them appear small when in fact they weren't. They also used short people for some parts when the scene was zoomed out. They also had two sets of props, one big and one small. It's really amazing how they were able to pull it off.

[QUOTE="ExoticAnimal"]

[QUOTE="worlock77"]

Actually Bilbo should look physically the same in both, as his possession of the One Ring kept him from aging. But, the fact is, that Ian Holm is old and not in the best of health these days. He's ether unable and/or unwilling to do it so...

MAILER_DAEMON

I'm quite uncertain but does Bilbo have the ring yet in the Hobbit?

Thats for clarifying that up.

I read this as Morgan Freeman as Bilbo. LOL damn, might've been interested if that was true.

Whoa, when did this thing finally get moving again? Last I heard they were still having negoteations.

Whoa, when did this thing finally get moving again? Last I heard they were still having negoteations.

Bardock47

[QUOTE="Bardock47"]

Whoa, when did this thing finally get moving again? Last I heard they were still having negoteations.

MAILER_DAEMON