Martin Freeman to play Bilbo Baggins

Peter Jackson confirmed that Martin Freeman has been cast to play Bilbo Baggins in the two upcoming Hobbit movies.  You may remember Freeman from his roles in Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  Don’t remember him? Well, click here to see Freeman’s filmography.

Filming has been delayed several months because of a labor dispute between Jackson and the New Zealand Actors’ Equity and SAG, but is set to begin in early 2011. Looks like there’s no chance of making the originally planned Christmas 2011 and 2012 release dates for the two films, but at least it’s getting started. Hopefully.

Possible Hobbit Strike

The Hobbit movie has not started filming yet, but the Screen Actor’s Guild is encouraging actors to boycott the production. The Guild wants the production to provide a contract for all the actors, not just the ones who are covered by SAG.

Remember, Peter Jackson and is expected to direct, since Guillermo del Toro backed out. Needless to say, Jackson is none too pleased. He has threatened to move the production to Eastern Europe.

The fun just continues with this movie.  You can read the whole article here.

Enter the Hobbit

OK, The Hobbit movie is scheduled to begin filming in June or July 2010. The plan is to film two movies at once, with plans to release parts 1 and 2 at Christmas 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Like LOTR, The Hobbit will film in New Zealand, but Guillermo del Toro will direct and Peter Jackson will produce. Jackson decided not to direct this time because he didn’t want to compete with himself. You may be concerned about whether del Toro’s direction will be vastly different from Jackson’s style. Well, one good thing is that the same team who wrote the screenplay for the LOTR trilogy will also write The Hobbit’s screenplay (Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillippa Boyens).

Apparently, scripts for both parts are finished. There are lots of rumors swirling around about who will play the major roles, although it seems to have been established that Sir Ian McKellen will play Gandalf. I mean, who else can play him, really? I keep reading that Tobey Maguire is being considered to play Bilbo Baggins. Ah, well, we’ll see.

Check out The Hobbit Movie site for lots of great info like movie news, forums, and gossip .