I’m really excited about The Hobbit finally going into production, and can’t wait to see what Peter Jackson and the creative minds at Weta have in store to make the movies even better than the Ring trilogy. Word from HWood yesterday have James Nesbitt and Adam Brown joining the roster of Dwarves. Nesbitt will play Bofur, with newcomer Brown taking on the role of Ori.
Take the jump for the official press release.
One of Britain’s most beloved actors, James Nesbitt (Millions and TV’s Cold Feet), is the latest actor to join the ensemble cast of The Hobbit, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.; and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Nesbitt will play Bofur, a disarmingly forthright, funny and occasionally brave Dwarf. “James’s charm, warmth and wit are legendary as is his range as an actor in both comedic and dramatic roles. We feel very lucky to be able to welcome him as one of our cast.” said director Peter Jackson.
Newcomer, Adam Brown will play Ori, another of the Dwarf Company which sets out to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the infamous dragon, Smaug. Jackson comments, “Adam is a wonderfully expressive actor and has a unique screen presence. I look forward to seeing him bring Ori to life”.
Nesbitt and Brown will join the cast announced on October 21, which includes Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage (soon to appear in Captain America: The First Avenger), Aidan Turner (TV’s Being Human), Rob Kazinsky (TVs EastEnders), Graham McTavish (Secretariat), John Callen (TV’s Power Rangers Jungle Fury), Stephen Hunter (TV’s All Saints), Mark Hadlow (King Kong) and Peter Hambleton (TV’s The Strip).
Since The Hobbit films received a green light on October 15, pre-production has been in full swing with release dates set for December, 2012 and December, 2013. The two The Hobbit films are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production, Warner Bros Pictures handling domestic distribution and MGM distributing internationally.
While the central cast is shaping up nicely, I really want to know who will play Smaug. Patrick Stewart would be pretty cool, and so would Michael Ironside, or Tony Todd.
3 Comments
James Nesbitt was pretty awesome in the short lived series “Jekyll”. He’ll be perfect for the Hobbit.
I think James Earle Jones should play Smaugh. “Gandalf never told you what happened to your father…” All the other great, deep voices are dead and gone. Leonard Nemoy should play the Mayor of Laketown. But who is big enough and hairy enough to play Beorn?
Chris Noth – with a little makeup. Since this is (possibly) going to have some ‘bridge’ material from LOTR, I wonder if they will add characters like Radagast, or Tom Bombadil?