Martin Freeman to play Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit

[Lord of the Rings]

Martin Freeman to play Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit




Martin Freeman Freeman "was born" to play Bilbo Baggins, Jackson said

The Office actor Martin Freeman will play Bilbo Baggins in two-part Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit, director Peter Jackson has announced.

He said in a statement there had "only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us".

Freeman, 39, was "intelligent, funny, surprising and brave - exactly like Bilbo", Jackson added.

Meanwhile, Jackson's wife Fran Walsh has reportedly told a radio station filming could move to the UK because of an industrial dispute in New Zealand.

[Lord of the Rings]

Dwarves cast

Jackson said he was "incredibly proud" to be able to announce that Freeman would be the hobbit.




Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky and Graham McTavish Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky and Graham McTavish will all appear in The Hobbit

"There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin," Jackson said.

Spooks actor Richard Armitage, 39 - who has a role in the forthcoming film Captain America: The First Avenger - will play Thorin Oakenshield - leader of the dwarves.

Former EastEnders actor Rob Kazinsky, Sean Slater in the soap, will also play a dwarf.

He will appear alongside Irish actor Aidan Turner, who has appeared in BBC Three's Being Human, and British actor Graham McTavish, who has appeared on TV shows including Red Dwarf.

Other dwarves will be played by John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton.

The films are due to be released in December 2012 and December 2013.
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    * Hobbit to begin filming next year
    * Hobbit movie 'should stay in NZ'

As with the Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, the film had been due to be made in Jackson's native New Zealand.

But on Thursday, film studio Warner Bros said the ongoing pay wrangle with acting unions had "forced us to consider other filming locations for the first time".

Jackson's wife and creative partner Fran Walsh, meanwhile, reportedly told Radio New Zealand that film producers "had people in the UK taking location photographs".

"They've got a huge studio there that Harry Potter has vacated, the ex-Rolls Royce factory, that they say would be perfect for us."

Canada, Australia and the Czech Republic have also been linked with the production.



Peter Jackson Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy won a total of 17 Oscars

Unions representing actors and other workers urged a boycott against the $500m (£319m) production because of the dispute over contracts.

They are trying to force Jackson's production company, Wingnut Films, and Warner Bros to enter negotiations with them over the contracts deadlock.

While major unions including America's Screen Actors Guild and New Zealand Actors' Equity have retreated, smaller unions in New Zealand and Australia are continuing their boycott.

Meanwhile, non-union film workers have hit the streets in New Zealand to demand that filming stays there.

Earlier this month, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he would be "greatly concerned" if production on Jackson's film was lost.

Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy won 17 Oscars and earned billions of dollars at box offices worldwide.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11604193

[Lord of the Rings]

 4 October 2010 Last updated at 07:37 ET

Hobbit movie 'should stay in New Zealand' says PM



Peter Jackson Peter Jackson has warned the entire project could be shelved

A union dispute should not lead to filming of The Hobbit being driven out of New Zealand, the country's prime minister has said.

John Key said he would be "greatly concerned" if production on Peter Jackson's film was lost.

Mr Key added the government was taking the unusual step of holding initial discussions with those involved in a move to break the deadlock on pay.

Unions have urged a boycott until the contracts wrangle is resolved.

Mr Key told New Zealand's TV One that The Hobbit should not be the target for the unions' demands for binding contracts for performers in the country's movie industry.

The conservative premier said they were "holding to ransom one particular producer and one particular film".

He added that the film industry is a lucrative earner for the country and a tool for marketing it as a tourist destination.

In an open letter written last week, Lord of the Rings director Jackson accused Australia's acting union of using the dispute to move in on New Zealand's film industry.

The Oscar winner said any shift of production base would lead to a "long, dry big-budget movie drought in this country".

The two-part movie has yet to be given the go-ahead by Hollywood studios, but the Los Angeles Times has reported that a deal could be close to being sealed.

Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy won 17 Oscars and earned billions of dollars at box offices worldwide.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11465248