Toby McGuire as Bilbo?!!!

[Usivius]

Yah, there are talks -- and only talks at this point (nothing signed), to have Tobey play Bilbo.
Hmmmm....
interesting ... but does he have enough of the inquisitive side of him ... the side that sets his him apart from other hobbits....?

[wayfriend]

theonering.net is indicating that this rumour is "not valid". Of course, they are using more page inches to report the rumour than to report that it is not a valid rumour, but that's the way news works I guess.

Notably, AintItCool called McGuire a really poor choice.

That all being said: the first script is done, and they are actively casting, and we should have real casting news real soon. Gollum (Serkis), Elrond (Weaving), Gandalf (McKellan), and Galadriel (Blanchett) will all be reprising their roles, I hear.

Doug Jones (Guillermo's Serkis) is assured to appear somewhere. We just don't know where.

[Orlion]

Yeah, that's what we need... a person who appears like he can die at any moment play a fat hobbit... just glad that it only seems to be rumour...

[Sunbaneglasses]

Jack Black would make a great Bilbo.

[The Dreaming]

Frankly, I'd be fine if they had Ian Holm do it. (He is one of my favorite actors, and he was delightful in LOTR) If they feel they MUST cast younger...

Jesse Eisenburg would be my number one choice. I think he is a smart, luminous young talent, and he would be damn near perfect.

[Cagliostro]

Glad to hear that wasn't the case. I like Toby, but I don't think he is right for this role. Those that are, though, would be David Tennant and Martin Freeman, which was suggested somewhere in a link in The Hobbit thread.

[ItisWritten]

I don't know who should be cast as Bilbo (Ian Holm is too old for the rigors of the role), but I do hope they stay truer to the book in characterization. That means a mature hobbit set in his ways who had barely considered the notion of adventuring until it was thrust upon him.

The Hobbit is supposed to be fun, and free of the doom of the Ring. It should almost be treated as a caper movie where (nearly) everything goes wrong.

[dANdeLION]

Bilbo was 50 at the beginning of the Hobbit. At the beginning of FotR, he was 11 and Frodo 33. But I could have sworn that there were several years between Bilbo leaving the Shire, Gandalf discovering the truth behind the ring, and Frodo leaving on his adventure. In fact, I'm pretty sure Frodo was close to 50 himself, so what they'll be looking to cast is a guy the same age as Elijah Wood was....

edit: Yeah, I was right, according to this site: www.frodoforever.com/timeline.php

[Kaydene]

Martin Freeman <3 he's perfect for the role.
So hobbity.

Hobbity Bobbity

[ItisWritten]

Bilbo was 50 at the beginning of the Hobbit. At the beginning of FotR, he was 11 and Frodo 33. But I could have sworn that there were several years between Bilbo leaving the Shire, Gandalf discovering the truth behind the ring, and Frodo leaving on his adventure. In fact, I'm pretty sure Frodo was close to 50 himself, so what they'll be looking to cast is a guy the same age as Elijah Wood was....

edit: Yeah, I was right, according to this site: www.frodoforever.com/timeline.php

Which is one the main problems I had with Frodo in the movie. They cast--and characterized--him too young.

In the book, there was 17 years between the Party and Frodo leaving Bag End, but they glossed over the passage of time in the movie, and played up Frodo's youth as if he was the same age as Merry and Pippin. I can understand cinematically why they did this, but I didn't care for it. I hope they wrote Bilbo as 50. I believe hobbit 50 translates to 35?

[wayfriend]

They may be holding out for someone who has a chance of looking a bit like a young Ian Holm.

About the youngest picture of Ian I could find in five minutes is from Alien. Does he look like anyone?



[edit] ... as Napolean in Time Bandits.

[dANdeLION]

Bilbo was 50 at the beginning of the Hobbit. I'm pretty sure Frodo was close to 50 himself...

Which is one the main problems I had with Frodo in the movie. They cast--and characterized--him too young.

In the book, there was 17 years between the Party and Frodo leaving Bag End, but they glossed over the passage of time in the movie, and played up Frodo's youth as if he was the same age as Merry and Pippin. I can understand cinematically why they did this, but I didn't care for it. I hope they wrote Bilbo as 50. I believe hobbit 50 translates to 35?

There's another factor they probably took into account that I had forgotten. Bilbo, while in possession of the ring, aged slowly. So, Frodo also probably aged little between 33 and 50, which could account for him looking younger.

[wayfriend]

Don't forget that hobbit years aren't the same as man years. A 33 year old hobbit is a young man of about 21.

[dANdeLION]

Great. That means I'm the equivalent of a 71 year old Hobbit.

[wayfriend]

I've always thought so.

[sindatur]

Bilbo was 50 at the beginning of the Hobbit. At the beginning of FotR, he was 11 and Frodo 33. But I could have sworn that there were several years between Bilbo leaving the Shire, Gandalf discovering the truth behind the ring, and Frodo leaving on his adventure. In fact, I'm pretty sure Frodo was close to 50 himself, so what they'll be looking to cast is a guy the same age as Elijah Wood was....

edit: Yeah, I was right, according to this site: www.frodoforever.com/timeline.php

OK, now I'm extremely confused (never read the books). In the FotR, Bilbo is shown to be an old man, about 4 or 5 times older than Frodo, and passed the ring onto Frodo after having years of adventures with it. Now you're saying Bilbo was only supposed to be 1/3 of Frodo's age, and that 11 Hobbit years isn't even as old as 11 Human years?

How could they have strayed so far from the books, and the movies been so popular? Bilbo couldn't possibly have had years of adventures with the ring and passed it on to Frodo at only 11 years old?

[Menolly]

That was a typo I think, sindatur. The birthday party Bilbo hosts at the start of FotR is his eleventy-first birthday party. He is 111 years old then. dAN dropped a 1.

[sindatur]

That was a typo I think, sindatur. The birthday party Bilbo hosts at the start of FotR is his eleventy-first birthday party. He is 111 years old then. dAN dropped a 1.

OK, phew, thanks.

I coulda sworn he was supposed to be over 100 and that really threw me for a loop

[ItisWritten]

Bilbo was 50 at the beginning of the Hobbit. I'm pretty sure Frodo was close to 50 himself...

Which is one the main problems I had with Frodo in the movie. They cast--and characterized--him too young.

In the book, there was 17 years between the Party and Frodo leaving Bag End, but they glossed over the passage of time in the movie, and played up Frodo's youth as if he was the same age as Merry and Pippin. I can understand cinematically why they did this, but I didn't care for it. I hope they wrote Bilbo as 50. I believe hobbit 50 translates to 35?

There's another factor they probably took into account that I had forgotten. Bilbo, while in possession of the ring, aged slowly. So, Frodo also probably aged little between 33 and 50, which could account for him looking younger.

I get the aging part, but it wouldn't prevent him from maturing. That much isn't evident in Frodo's characterization. That Sam often behaved like he was older (but not wiser) didn't help.

[drew]

Martin Freeman <3 he's perfect for the role.
So hobbity.

Hobbity Bobbity