Martin Freeman Confirmed As Bilbo in The Hobbit : Movie News
October 22, 2010 by Sean Lynch
Filed under Movie News, Movies
Martin Freeman, best known as “Tim from The Office” has been confirmed to play Bilbo Baggins in the long awaited prequel to Peter Jackson‘s Lord Of The Rings trilogy entitled The Hobbit.
In one of the worst kept casting secrets since Patrick Stewart donned the Professor X wheelchair in X-Men, Martin Freeman (recently seen as Watson in the BBCs updated version of Sherlock Holmes) will now head the cast which tells the story of a young Bilbo Baggins who sets out on a “quest with a group of dwarves to free their ancestral mountain home from a dragon”.
The Hobbit has been on and off since The Lord Of The Rings wrapped production, with legal turmoil (Peter Jackson felt he didn’t get his share of the LOTR pie) and production company cash-flow-problems often threatening to leave the project in limbo indefinitely.
Martin Freeman is Bilbo Baggins
Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) was signed on to direct but dropped out recently due to the delay in filming – leaving way for Peter Jackson to take control of the project most fanboys hoped he would direct anyway.
Other cast members confirmed to lead the Dwarf brigade in The Hobbit include :
- Richard Armitage (BBC’s Robin Hood) as Thorin Oakenshield
- Aidan Turner (Mitchell in Being Human) as Kili
- Rob Kazinsky (East Enders) as Fili
- Graham McTavish (Secretariat, Rambo) as Dwalin
- Mark Hadlow (King Kong) as Dori
- John Callen as Oin
- Stephen Hunter as Bombur
- Peter Hambleton as Gloin
Neither Ian Mckellan (Gandalf) or Andy Serkis (Gollum) have officially been confirmed (though their characters are pivotal in The Hobbit) but it’s surely only a matter of time until they both sign on.
Personally, I’ve never been a fan of The Lord Of The Rings. At no point did they ever seem any more than just a series of sweeping camera shots (I’m serious, re-watch it and let me know if there is any point in any of the film where the camera isn’t moving) and Jackson’s The Lovely Bones was a downright mess.
So to say I couldn’t care less about The Hobbit is an understatement.
That said – you can hardly argue with $2,940,933,388 worth of Box Office receipts can you?