Martin Freeman starring as...Martin Freeman!

[LusciousLucy]

Ok, so Peter Jackson has apparently got the man he wanted all along ...sorry about the previous link. See message below for new link.

Yes its more or less the obvious person for the part available today (because THE person alive today who can and should be the ONLY person to play Bilbo is the man who played him in LOTR but unfortunately is just too old now - the incredible and very Hobbit like Ian Holm) but I find Martin Freeman only ever plays Martin Freeman in everything he does.

Yes he is a good actor but none of his characterisations are particularly deep and he always just plays the well mannered, if a bit fussy and shy Brit that is the underdog. Ok so Bilbo Baggins has all of these traits but I dont really want to see Martin Freeman playing the character AS Martin Freeman does and can in all his acting.

His Watson is/was pretty decent but his Arthur Dent was unconvincing and silly. I know The Hobbit is mostly centred around what Bilbo gets up to but I just hope he plays it as well as Ian Holm would have done. I may be and hopefully will be proved wrong. I just hope the films do finally get made too. Its been a long time waiting.

And then there is the sad issue that the new films potentially are not going to be filmed with the stunning scenery of New Zealand this time. That scenery was as much part of the cast in the LOTR films. Such a silly state of affairs with this film. They will be fabulous if and when they get made but wont be quite as beautiful if NZ loses out.

Scuse my geekiness, just fancied discussing this with you all.

Edited October 23, 2010 by LusciousLucy

[Kowalski]

Good choice IMHO, loved him in The Office and Sherlock Holmes.

I didn't like the Hitch Hiker film.

Getting Bilbo is a huge role for him.

I hope they do film them in NZ, but if they don't then the Highlands has got to be in with a shout...

[ampersand]

good to see his role in ali g hasn't damaged him!

[luckysalt]

Whats with the link Lucy?

[Wooderson]

No geekiness about it in the slightest Luce. Along with The Avengers, The Hobbit movies I'm the most looking forward to in the next 3 or 4 years. Gonna be amazing!

Martin Freeman hasnt got much versatility though has he? Theres not that many "big" characters in The Hobbit and to make a mess of the casting of Bilbo will make a right hames of the whole thing.

[LusciousLucy]

Whats with the link Lucy?

[philipsteak]

It'll get sorted. The actors union has too much to lose, and Peter Jackson won't be allowed back in if he takes it somewhere else.

I was at Hobbiton a few weeks ago. The rebuilt sets are coming along nicely, but if anyone asks, I didn't tell you that

[Wooderson]

It'll get sorted. The actors union has too much to lose, and Peter Jackson won't be allowed back in if he takes it somewhere else.

I was at Hobbiton a few weeks ago. The rebuilt sets are coming along nicely, but if anyone asks, I didn't tell you that

[LusciousLucy]

Matamata (Hobbiton) is open for visitors and has been since the films started isnt it? It's not quite a pay on the door venture I dont think but I was sure the owners of the land had some thing going with the tourist parties.

[philipsteak]

Yeah you've been able to visit Matamata for years, quite a slick tourist operation, but a bit of a shit trip cos most of the sets got removed, the only ones left were abandoned by the production company when the weather turned to shit and the farmers who owned the land built a tour around that. Its now pretty good though cos they are rebuilding the sets so you can really see what its all like. Not sure how much longer it'll be allowed though.

[staggerlee]

Considering what he did with LOTR I think Jackson deserves a bit more respect than you're giving him Lucy. The casting in particular was excellent.

Freeman is an brilliant choice in my opinion and it'll be a risk that pays off.

[sifi]

I didn't think much of his Dent.

[Wooderson]

I didn't think much of his Dent.

[Wooderson]

So the production of The Hobbit stays in NZ.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10683486

Interesting that they are enacting a new law to create the space needed for the production to proceed. I know we "exported" thousands of shady characters from these shores over there but that is just a little "Irish" for my tastes!!

- - -

Thinking about it last night I'm concerned that this will be an anti-climactic mess. I trust PJ implicitly but he just doesnt have as much stuff to work with on The Hobbit. Its an easier gig for Ian McKellan this time around but the dwarves are very poorly realised in the books. Only one or two of them get anything decent to do - and they get killed FFS! haha

Also (dragon aside) is there much genuine meat on the bones in The Hobbit cinematically? Theres nothing of the scale of The Mines of Moria chapters. I guess I have to re-read the thing but my worry is that The Hobbit will end up seeming a little irrelevant next to it's big brother. If it had been the key work it would have been made first - know what I mean? At the risk of contradicting myself I am reminded that my fave moment in the entire original trilogy is the "Lighting of the Beacons" sequence. A minor element for sure - so I look forward with some interest on what PJ can conjure up this time. A lot hinges on Bilbo & the Dragon. Get them right and get the film right.