The Hobbit

[Atreides]

Legolas certainly does bring the pretty. Orlando Bloom has never been better on-screen than as the badass elf, since the role doesn't require much acting other than to stare intently at other men.

[Augustus]

Guess that's where PJ will get the extra material from to stretch The Hobbit into 2 movies, because let's be honest, the book itself is easily told in one.

I just hope the movie itself will stay true to the book as much as possible and that the dwarves remain as unhot as always.

[angelaudie]

Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis have officially signed on! YAY!

[Deleted]

Jan 10, 2011 21:29:26 GMT -4 angelaudie said:

Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis have officially signed on! YAY!

(I need a happy dance emoticon.) I feel another fandom coming on!

[Freelance Exorcist]

Legolas is on board.

I became a Bloom fan with Pirates of the Caribbean, but I'm still irrationally happy about this.

[Deleted]

Filming officially starts March 21.

Production company, 3Foot7 Ltd, is pleased to announce that the first day of principal photography for THE HOBBIT will be Monday 21 March, 2011.

This date has been chosen following practical considerations of the filming schedule requirements, actor availability and the NZ seasons. Shooting will take place at Stone Street Studios in Miramar and on location around New Zealand.

Confirmed cast include: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Mikael Persbrant, Sylvester McCoy and Elijah Wood. Director, Sir Peter Jackson, comments: “Despite some delays we are fully back on track and very excited to get started.”

Finally! Now let's hope nothing else happens to delay production!

[angelaudie]

Article about the cast press conference. Gives some insights about the development of the script and it appears the cast is bonding quite nicely. Aidan Turner can be seen with a beard which he swears is not an attempt to desexy him. Here's a nice group photo from the conference.

The makeup people have got their work cut out for them to hide Aidan and Richard's good looks. Or maybe they are just going to say, "Screw it!" and make them the sexiest dwarves ever!

[petitesuite]

Mar 8, 2011 0:26:10 GMT -4 angelaudie said:

The makeup people have got their work cut out for them to hide Aidan and Richard's good looks. Or maybe they are just going to say, "Screw it!" and make them the sexiest dwarves ever!

Man, I hope not. Just looking at that picture and being turned on by people I know will play dwarves is making me all confused.

[MrsCatHead]

what a waste of Aidan's height and brooding good looks.

[Deleted]

As a Tolkien fangirl, I think it would be totally book-faithful if the dwarves are attractive as in "handsome". Not elfish good-looking obviously, but they do not have to be ugly imo.

I love this quote from the link upthread:

Richard Armitage (Thorin) spoke surprisingly little, but when he did he had a notably deep voice, exactly right for Thorin, and real gravitas. He walked into the conference with a kind of testosterone charged lope. I don’t think he’ll have any trouble holding the audience’s attention.

Oh yea. We need the dwarves to have plenty of charisma, humor and dramatic chops as well. Bilbo might be the main character, but the dwarves are in pretty much every scene in the book as well. And the tallness of the dwarf-actors compared to Freeman's height will just make it easier to give the right size-relationship without any CGI or other cinematic trickery.