CATE BLANCHETT, KEN STOTT, SYLVESTER MCCOY, MIKAEL PERSBRANDT JOIN CAST OF “THE HOBBIT”

The One Ring Net ^ | December 7, 2010 | xoanon

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Galadriel, Balin, Radagast the Brown, Beorn, Drogo Baggins, Nori, and Bifur casting is now official. This answers the questions:
1) Will we see the White Council? Yes -- see Galadriel and Radagast.
2) Will they include Beorn? Yes - see Beorn.

Comments by Peter Jackson:
'Peter Jackson welcomed the news of Cate Blanchett’s return to Middle-earth “Cate is one of my favorite actors to work with and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her reprise the role she so beautifully brought to life in the earlier films” On the casting of Scottish actor Ken Stott, Jackson commented “Fran and I have long been fans of Ken’s work and are excited he will be joining us on this journey.” Jackson also welcomed the addition to the cast of Swedish actor, Mikael Persbrandt “The role of Beorn is an iconic one and Mikael was our first choice for the part. Since seeing him read for the role we can’t imagine anyone else playing this character.”'

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

‘The Hobbit’ casting announcement ping.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

I hope that they will be decent movies, when completed.

[ottbmare]

Peter, please hurry! I can’t stand it much longer.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Seeing that Jackson is directing, if you like TLOTR you will likely like ‘The Hobbit’, unless you just hate 3-D. I am sure Jackson will use the appropriate lighter tone for these movies.

[aught-6]

How can he possibly outdo the Lord of the Rings movies?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Outdoing may be asking a lot, seeing that this is, after all, a kid’s movie.

[padre35]

Wow, that is far more complete a cast of characters than I could have hoped.

[allmendream]

Wow, casting big names for characters not even in the book! That doesn’t give me high hopes for this.

I thought he made a mess of the third movie, which should have been the best one. Big fan of the first and second movies.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Officially Gandalf, Gollum, Saruman, and Elrond haven’t been cast yet, although the first two are a virtual certainty. Saruman will be cast, but maybe not with Christopher Lee. Elrond’s character is not certain, but is very likely, probably with Hugo Weaving.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

‘Wow, casting big names for characters not even in the book!’

The White Council is in the appendices of TLOTR and occurs during the action of ‘The Hobbit’. It has been anticipated as being in these movies for years. All characters mentioned are either in ‘The Hobbit’ or were at the White Council’.

[allmendream]

I guess showing the White Council isn't so bad, so hopefully it will be more of a cameo than a major scene in the movie. Although it takes on later significance, and explains Gandalf’s absence, the White Council and the driving of the Necromancer (later revealed to be Sauron) out of Mirkwood was NOT a central part of the Hobbit.

He was going to have Arwyn at Helm's Deep until cooler heads prevailed.

[jessduntno]

What the heck happened to Tom Bombadil???

A little off topic; anyone ever read Bored of the Rings. Hilarious, if you don’t mind childish, crude humor at the expense of a great novel. Hilarious. Harvard Lampoon circa 1967 or 68, I think.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

‘What the heck happened to Tom Bombadil???’

The same thing that happened to those haunted moors and the Scouring of the Shire, cut from TLOTR for reasons of length, relevance (Bombadil) and anti-climax (the Scouring).

[Bean Counter]

Excellent! They have a very interesting cast and it’s going to be a tough wait for Part 2...

[jessduntno]

I dunno ... hard to top Bombadil for relevance in the first book. I mean. wasn’t he Tolkein’s great mystical character, his Billy Budd?

[IronJack]

I don't think The Hobbit is half the book any of the Ring trilogy is . But I give Peter Jackson credit for a tour de force on LOTR. Incredible work by a near neophyte director. If he does as well with Hobbit, it will be worth seeing.

[tumblindice]

“rounding out the company”
I see only four dwarves mentioned: Balin, Nori, Bifur and Thorin. Recall that one reason they needed Bilbo—their “burglar”—was to make 14, since thirteen was an unlucky number. Looks like they’re about nine dwarves short.
(nyuk nyuk nyuk)
I’m watching `Fellowship of the Rings’ now.

[STD]

He was not a neophyte

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

‘Looks like they’re about nine dwarves short.’

The rest of the dwarves were named in this October 21st announcement: Peter Jackson and New Line Announce ‘Hobbit’ Casting “http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2612463/posts “

This is the first official announcement since then.