[Livingston]

Originally Posted by FanWriter45

Well, I take back one thing: the voice of Smaug.... I would go for either Brian Blessed, or maybe Alan Rickman.

Yeah Brian Blessed would be great as the voice. Of course we could always go with Connery, he already played one dragon! That was a joke, but seriously could definitely see Blessed, or hear him I should say.

[Kirk15]

Originally Posted by jerhanner

Mmmmm - a Snape-based Smaug.

I was thinking that Keanu Reeves would make a good Elrond. I love the Hugo-man but I thought he was a little too old to play Elrond.

How can he be too old? Elrond is thousands of years old.

I know he's immortal and everything.

I thought Hugo did a great job playing Elrond.


btw is Peter Jackson directing the film?

[Admiral Archer]

NO.

The film is to be Executive Produced by both Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, but it is to be directed by Guillermo Del Tormo.

Think "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi".
Lucas produced both films, but didn't direct them.

[jerhanner]

Originally Posted by Kirk15

How can he be too old? Elrond is thousands of years old.

I know he's immortal and everything.

I thought Hugo did a great job playing Elrond.


btw is Peter Jackson directing the film?

Jackson is producing.

I always saw Elrond as "ageless," which I guess translates to "not that many facial lines." Hugo was a great Elrond, otherwise.

[Tiberius1964]

Originally Posted by Admiral Archer

Let's see who you would cast for the new Hobbit movie coming out in 2010.
Here is my cast list:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bilbo--TONY SHALHOUB
Gandalf--PATRICK STEWART
Thorin--BILLY CONNOLLY
Elrond--PIERCE BROSNAN
Gollum--ANDY SERKIS
Elvenking--SAM NEILL
Bard--LIAM NEESON
Smaug--JAMES EARL JONES

Interesting choices. I tend to agree with those who want the original cast to return. I know Sir Ian has expressed interest playing Gandalf again. However, there are some interesting possibilities.

I'm not sure about Ian Holm, though. He's a bit old, and "young" Bilbo has more to do in the Hobbit than pick up a ring and stuff it in his pocket. He's going to be 77 in September (Sir Ian is 69).

I think Liam Neeson would make a better Beorn than a Bard. Sam Neill as the elven king, Thranduil...maybe. Seems a bit of a waste, though - Thranduil doesn't have much to do in the story (though this could certainly be expanded in the screenplay).

Or here's a thought: Dwayne Johnson as Beorn...

Originally Posted by jerhanner

James Earl Jones as Smaug would be the freaking bomb!

I must respectfully disagree re. Gandalf being gentle. I think when he was hanging in the Shire, he was on his "down" time and we didn't get to see him flexing his ring-enhanced muscles.
It still puzzles me that they had the Witch King almost beat him at Minas Tirith - NO ONE breaks Gandalf's staff in my world

Not sure about James Earl Jones - yes he can do it...but there'd be too many people mocking it with "You don't know the power of the dragon..."

I agree re Gandalf. I always thought of him as quick and impatient in manner, though in reality very patient and kind. But I never agreed with the Witch King breaking Gandalf's staff at Minas Tirith. In the book (and yes, I consider the book canon, and the movies not canon), Gandalf the Grey is surrounded by all nine of the Black Riders at Weathertop, and holds them off. How then should the Witch King be able to break the staff of Gandalf the White?

Just one of my many nitpickings about how Peter Jackson et al, in crafting the screenplay, seemed to have to make every situation more dire than it already was...and in many cases unnecessarily, imho.

[Tiberius1964]

Oh, almost forgot.

At the end, at the Battle of the Five Armies...Thranduil's elves are of course led by Thranduil himself. But who better to be his second in command than his son, Legolas?

And since Gloin is holed up in the Lonely Mountain, beseiged by a bunch of men and dastardly elves, who better to march in the host of Dain Ironfoot than Gimli, Gloin's son?

So here's to seeing Orlando Bloom and John Rhys Davies in The Hobbit!
Who's with me?

[Berengarius7]

Originally Posted by Kirk15

They're making the HObbit!!!!???? OMG!

Stick to the original cast!

Gandalf: Ian McKellen

Bilbo: Ian Holm (They made look young once they can do it again!)

Elrond: Whoever played him in the LOTR Trilogy

Gollum: Andy Serkis (No one is better than him Precious!)

Smaug voice: John Rhys-Davies

I agree with everything except Rhys-Davies, Gimli's voice would sound trite and would inspire no fear or awe coming from a dragon. This voice has got to be low, gutteral, wicked, mean, nasty, sinful and evil in the extreme. Earl Jones could pull it off, but i would want I hope i picked the right name, i think it's Tony Jay. He voiced Frollo in Disney's Hunchback Of Notre Dame. If that dude is still alive, he is beyond the shadow of a doubt, the right voice for Smaug the cheifest and greatest of calamities.

P.S.: Too late i'm afraid, i just checked, he died in 2006. What a tradgedy, he would have been perfect.
Perhaps Micheal Dorn could be persuaded, eh?

[Tiberius1964]

Originally Posted by Berengarius7

Perhaps Micheal Dorn could be persuaded, eh?

Perhaps, but then as Smaug swings around for his final pass over Laketown, we'd all be yelling at the screen, "Maybe today is a good day to die!"

Perhaps its a bit overdone - he's been every bad guy in almost ever animated film, but Jim Cummings would do well. He was Steele in Balto, Shredder in one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle incarnations, Razoul in Aladdin, Ed the Hyena in Lion King, and the voice of one of the Armoured Bear throne room guards in Golden Compass.

[jerhanner]

Originally Posted by Tiberius1964

Oh, almost forgot.

At the end, at the Battle of the Five Armies...Thranduil's elves are of course led by Thranduil himself. But who better to be his second in command than his son, Legolas?

And since Gloin is holed up in the Lonely Mountain, beseiged by a bunch of men and dastardly elves, who better to march in the host of Dain Ironfoot than Gimli, Gloin's son?

So here's to seeing Orlando Bloom and John Rhys Davies in The Hobbit!
Who's with me?

You could fit Aragorn in there too - he would have been around 30 when Bilbo and the dwarves were in Imladris.

BTW, if you read Unfinished Tales, there's a great chapter in there that was cut from LotR. Gandalf and the hobbits are chilling in Minas Tirith and he tells them the story of how he and Thorin hooked up for the whole Smaug quest. Gimli chimes in that he wanted to go along but he was considered "too young."

[Berengarius7]

I just want them to do it right this time. LOTR is a big book and in order to make the films, many important moments in Tolkien's books had to be altered, changed, or just plain left out. With "The Hobbit", the filmmakers don't have that excuse. They have two films and should be able to include every situation, without changing anything, or leaving anything out. I want to see everything from Hobbiton to the Green Dragon Inn, to the Trolls, Rivendell, The Mountain Pass with the Stone Giants playing ball with boulders, the Goblin Cave, the underground Lake and the riddle game there, The Pine tree battle, the Eagles, Beorn, Mirkwood and the spiders and elves, Lake Town, Lonely Mountain and back to Hobbiton, and everything inbetween that i neglected to mention.