This sounds purely speculative to me, but what fun speculation:
Doctor Who’s David Tennant tipped to play Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit
The 38-year-old is tipped to play Bilbo Baggins in the big screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s book.
The Scottish star leads a list of stars, including James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe, vying to play the title role of Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit.” The film – which may be split in two – is based on Tolkien’s children’s book prequel to The Lord Of The Rings hit series.
Tennant is due to make his debut appearance at the world’s biggest science-fiction and fantasy convention Comic-Con in the US next week.
And Rings director Peter Jackson is also expected to announce his choice for the role when he attends.
Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times, said yesterday: “David Tennant just happens to be making his very first trip to the San Diego expo to promote “Doctor Who,” a television series that he will soon be leaving behind. “Peter Jackson, the producer of the two-film “Hobbit” series that begins its theatre run in 2011, is also slated to appear this year, and, well you can see the dot-connecting possibilities. …
We could also say that the fact that Kevin Smith is flying is specially for Comic Con even though he’s in the middle of shooting a movie combined with the fact that Ben Browder will be at the con to promote a show that was cancelled six years ago means, clearly, that the two will be collaborating on a new series about stoner astronauts.
Still, it’s a terrible tease, isn’t it? It’s like you can see the big Christmas present across the room — or perhaps, in the case of The Hobbit, a big birthday present is the more appropriate metaphor. And you can see the tag on it, and it reads “To The Fans, Love, Peter Jackson.” And you know there’s something totally awesome inside, like a puppy or a Big Wheel or Barbie’s Malibu Dream House, but you can’t open it yet.
That’s so mean.
(Thanks to the many readers who sent the link, from the Telegraph.)
It looks like they haven’t cast this yet. Peter Jackson says the script isn’t finished yet:
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=25349
Still, that doesn’t rule anybody out.
Oh and Peter Jackson is there on Thursday, I think, whereas David Tennant will be there on Sunday and has said he’s only going for the one day as he too busy to go for longer.
He’d be so wrong for Bilbo. I can’t see any movie magic making such a tall, skinny person look like a small, round hobbit.
My vote’s still for Martin Freeman.
The place to stay up-to-date on Hobbit news is TheOneRing.net’s messageboards (and the front page news section). I’m totally biased because I’ve been a TORN poster for almost a decade, but the fact that Guillermo del Toro is a registered member and pops in to give us personal updates from time to time is also a good thing. :)
I’ve said it many times, the perfect Bilbo is Stephen Graham, he was the guy on Snatch who was always following Jason Stathan around and dressing the same, he was also on Gangs of NY
of the rumored ones I would cast James McAvoy but Bilbo should played by someone who’s not a leading man, he’s very passive, unlike Frodo, he’s mostly around to report the story and has barely any active role on it, Iam Holm was perfect as the old Bilbo
the casting of Thorin should be more interesting and more difficult, he’s the leading man of the story and I have a feeling that he will have a bigger role than in the book, maybe Tim Roth or Gary Oldman
there’s some horrific rumor around about DelToro aproaching Daniel Radcliffe for Bilbo, really hope it’s not true, he’s a terrible actor
I wonder which parts DelToro will give to his regulars Doug Jones and Santiago Segura