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‘Hobbit’ News: James McAvoy as Bilbo? Tolkien Heir To Halt ‘Hobbit’ Films
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MajorJJH   |  

The HobbitSpeaking in “The Unexpected Party” online chat over the weekend, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson made it known that Ian Holm definitely wasn’t out of contention to reprise his role as Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming prequel movie, The Hobbit, depending on what the script called for.

He is my only choice for Bilbo, thanks in part to his long history with The Lord of the Rings. For those of you not aware, Holms played Frodo in the BBC radio production of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s masterpiece. But given the possibility that the part may be just beyond the aging actor (he is currently 76), the latest rumors do not scare me as much as I thought the recasting of Bilbo might.

Best known for his role as Mr. Tumnus the Fawn in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, James McAvoy is being rumored as a contender for the coveted role of Bilbo in The Hobbit. The 29-year-old Scot is one of several names that have been thrown around, according to an insider who spoke to British newspaper The Daily Express.

“A number of names have privately been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black but James is the one the film’s bosses really want,” the insider said. “They’re expected to have talks with him soon so hopefully it could be confirmed in the not too distant future.”

According to an article by the Times Online, a few other tidbits have been thrown out that, at least I have failed to notice. Included is the old news that Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis will return to reprise their roles as Gandalf and Gollum, respectively. But on top of that, they note that Sir Ian Holm will be narrating the movie, and that Viggo Mortensen will return as Aragorn (read to the end to see why I think he’s in The Hobbit).

All of this may be for naught, though, if the ever-lovin’-buzz-kill Christopher Tolkien has his way. The youngest son of the late J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher is best known as being the man who has, since his father’s death, compiled his father’s posthumous works, including Unfinished Tales and the History of Middle Earth. He was also the first to decipher his father’s map of Middle Earth, and has drawn all published maps for his father’s library of work.

However, he is also the executor of the Tolkien estate, and as such is hoping to halt the production of any further movies based upon his father’s work. Christopher Tolkien, now aged 84, claims that New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros., owes the Tolkien family £80m, due to a deal that saw his father sign over the movie rights in 1969 so that he could pay a tax bill. The deal stated that the family would receive 7.5% of profits from any movie production.

So on June 6, Christopher Tolkien will ask a Californian judge to back his claim that he is able to “terminate” any film rights to The Hobbit, and thus subsequently halt any filming. In addition, Christopher could put the kybosh on proceedings due to the fact that he is still in possession of the rights to The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, two books that are supposed to make up the majority of reference material for director del Toro and producer Peter Jackson’s Hobbit film and its unnamed sequel.

Described as “cantankerous” by his biographer, Christopher Tolkien is definitely unlikely to allow free access to the books. However, as with Peter Jackson’s lawsuit, the problem appears to be with New Line Cinema, rather than Warner Bros., Jackson, or even del Toro. That New Line has already been dissolved by parent company WB could go a long way to soothing Tolkien Jr.’s maniacal manipulations, and allow us to see a Hobbit movie.

As for why we might be seeing Aragorn? All along we’ve heard that The Hobbit will be the first part of two prequel movies, the second to focus a specific time between the end of The Hobbit and the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. Given that, it would make a lot of sense that del Toro and Jackson will attempt to tell a wider story, than just the one given us in The Hobbit. Readers of additional Tolkien books, such as myself, are well aware that Gandalf’s frequent absences from Hobbiton saw him travelling far and wide to deal with Sauron, or to look for Gollum, or meet up with Aragorn or Legolas. This gives the directors a real opening to expand the cast of the movie to bring back favorites such as Mortensen and Orlando Bloom.

As for the rumor that Jack Black or Daniel Radcliffe are also in talks to play Bilbo, let me just say that if McAvoy doesn’t take the part, I’m joining Christopher Tolkien’s army!

6 Comments »

  1. I love this news.

    At first, I thought it would be rough with the age restrictions and the need to bring back Ian Holm, but man, McAvoy has really impressed me and it’s just the perfect name to put in this role.

    As for Tolkien, I’m doubting very much that he’ll be able to do much more than cause a delay or two.

    Oh, and I highly doubt that Radcliffe or Jack Black were ever actually even mentioned, but it’s pretty funny to see it reported and to even think about it.

    Comment by The Movie God — May 29, 2008 @ 9:12 pm

  2. While you play the casting game, you’ve sold your soul to Sauron. If you had any moral sense at all, you would see that Christopher has got a claim. Or do you not believe in courtesy to authors, living or dead?

    Comment by Erik Olson — May 29, 2008 @ 10:22 pm

  3. @Erik Olson
    Who said that Christopher Tolkien did not have a claim?

    Comment by Empress Eve — May 30, 2008 @ 1:19 am

  4. Being owed $200 million is enough to make anyone cantankerous IMO, so I’m with Christopher on this one.

    I also think he should block any movies not based on the *real* Hobbit: ie the book his father wrote. Nobody needs to see some hack crap written just to work in the original cast members and cash in on their popularity. Not to mention that any storyline which fills in the years between Tolkien’s Hobbit and LOTR would require the Hobbit characters to appear younger than they did a decade ago.

    The only cast members of the Jackson movies that have any busines showing up in this one are Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee. One could argue that the other immortals (played by Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom) could be worked in, but since Aragorn is about 20 at the time of the events of the Hobbit, Mortensen is just too old to carry this off.

    Ditto Ian Holm as Bilbo, despite my great admiration for him as an actor. IMO James McAvoy would be a good choice for Bilbo, especialy since he bears a slight resemblance to Elijah Wood’s Frodo. The 2 are supposed to be related, after all.

    Comment by Gob — May 30, 2008 @ 4:04 pm

  5. Honestly, I can’t stand Jack Black’s movies, though I think I’ll probably enjoy Kung Fu Panda. I feel the same way about Mike Meyers, but I like Shrek. However, the very notion of Black playing Bilbo Baggins from makes me shudder.

    And they should at least give some respect to Tolkein’s heir, especially if promises were made in the past. It’s disrespectful in the extreme to the author to whom they’re giving homage to so casually dismiss his son’s interests in any such project.

    Comment by Saje Williams — July 15, 2008 @ 2:37 am

  6. I agree if McAvoy doesn’t steal the part by a landslide, I’m backing Tolkien

    Comment by Brandee — March 3, 2009 @ 10:46 am

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