• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Tennant tipped to play Bilbo in The Hobbit

Status
Not open for further replies.

GCX

Member
I hope they get Christopher Lee to do at least some sort of cameo role even though he's physical condition has been getting worse lately.

I quess there's hope since he's still acting in a number of upcoming movies like Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
 

Ceres

Banned
snaildog said:
I thought they were considering Martin Freeman (Tim from The Office). He would've been pretty good.

Actually, that could be a pretty good choice.

Zoso said:
Daniel Radcliffe??? I'm not saying he couldn't do it, but I have a hard time picturing him as Bilbo. I honestly don't know who I'd want to do it. Ian Holm was so perfect in LotR.

The main issue is that he'd need a lot of makeup to look older. Yeah, the general fan isn't going to care but you have to appease a ton of LOTR book fanboys. Bilbo is 50 years old in Hobbit. Radcliffe is 19. There's a 60 year span in between Hobbit and LOTR. Comparatively, he aged fucking awful in LOTR 60 years later if Radcliffe is going to be the 50 year old him.
 

NYR

Member
KirmiziBeyaz said:
Anyway why not have Elijah Wood play him?? A bit of makeup and he could look like Bilbo.
People are stupid, they would think it is Frodo...
 

GCX

Member
Hmm, now when I think about it, Peter Jackson should clearly be Bilbo :lol

2jd0x83.jpg
 

Ecrofirt

Member
You know, if Christopher Lee can't make an appearance in the film and they need a Saruman scene in the movie (I can't recall if he's in the book), I think they should use Leonard Nimoy. That man would play a perfect wizard. He's got that look about him.
 

Borgnine

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management
No idea who this is. I didn't know who James Mcavoy was either a year ago when there were rumors about him, but I thought he would have been good. Either way obviously whoever plays a Hobbit is going to have to put on some pounds, so it's hard to tell from pictures of this guy.
 

Loxley

Member
Either he's lost a LOT of weight, or that's an old picture.

Nope, Jackson's lost a shitload of weight over the years, mostly after RotK and during filming of King Kong. It's actually creepy to compare how he looks at the 2004 Oscars and he looks now.




A fairly recent photo:

 

Kozak

Banned
NYR said:
People are stupid, they would think it is Frodo...

The stupid people will still watch it and enjoy it as the adult life of Frodo or some shit..I don't care.

I wouldn't mind seeing the actor that played Pippin do it either. He reminds me of the transformed Bilbo.
 

Meier

Member
Combichristoffersen said:
Jesus, he's lost quite a lot of weight since directing LotR :eek:
Welcome to 2004 or something. :lol He has been much thinner for quite some time now.

I like Tennant a lot as the Doctor so I'd be happy to see him segue into this. He'll obviously have plenty of time on his plate soon enough.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
hamchan said:
Bilbo is a pretty different character compared to Harry though. Does the genre of the movie matter when the character is so different?

Yeah, you get known as a "genre" actor and no one wants to cast you outside of that genre.

It depends what he wants to do with his career, but it would make getting roles outside of fantasy that much harder.
 

Wollan

Member
Ceres said:
So I guess the fat was the source of his power.
His new film The Lovely Bones could be pretty great it seems. The studio delayed the movie to this fall just to have it in the 'awards season'.
 

Borgnine

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management
But in The Hobbit he is a sprightly 50 years old – although hobbits live to be well over 150 years old.

This is wrong by the way.

Here's what theonering.net thinks:

It is probably typical internet rumor-mongering, but we keep getting whispered to that the lead for the two Hobbit films is cast and is heading to Comic-Con in San Diego.

Some are claiming that David Tennant, the lead actor in the popular “Dr. Who,” series, will be announced as the title character for the pair of Hobbit films during the San Diego Comic-Con. He is there to talk about his “Dr. Who,” series but with Hobbit producer Peter Jackson also in San Diego, some are saying the week will be used as the occasion to make the casting announcement with maximum impact.

The rumor seems unlikely because the Middle-earth-themed films are not even officially in pre-production and the final script isn’t written and thus can’t be shown to Tennant or any other actor.

Without a script, studios can’t make final decisions on budgets, shooting schedules or production and without those pieces in place it seems difficult to hire actors who wouldn’t even know the length of the shoot or have all the important details about compensation or promotion.

The much more likely rumor involving Tennnt is that a “Dr. Who,” film will be announced in San Diego.
 

mjc

Member
I'd love to have that Doctor Who movie come about. Imagine what they could do with a feature length budget.
 

RedShift

Member
mjc said:
I'd love to have that Doctor Who movie come about. Imagine what they could do with a feature length budget.

Depends whether they did something like Children of Earth or 'What if the Daleks/Cybermen/Sultarens(sp?)/Master etc. attack at once and Jack Harkness, Rose, Martha, Donna, Sarah Jane are all there!!! '. Also It wouldn't have much to do with Tennant, he's practically done with being the Doctor.

I could see Tennant as Biblo, but now Martin Freeman has been suggested I really want him to play him. He fits the role perfectly.
 

Wollan

Member
Oh wait... Tennant... isn't he in that NPD neogaf gif where he's the last remaining hardcore gamer, looking back at the good old days?
 

NimbusD

Member
Can I just say that I absolutely hated Tennant when he was first cast as Doctor Who? But he's grown on me a lot. I dunno if he could pull of Bilbo, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

And ¿wtf? at Radcliffe... He's such a horrible actor.


EDIT:

Martin Freeman is an awesome choice, LETS START AN INTERNET PETITION!
 

MisterHero

Super Member
Evlar said:
Ian Holme rejected the idea of playing the younger Bilbo Baggins from prior to the release of LOTR. Anyone with close knowledge of the books knows that Bilbo is supposed to look essentially the same in the Hobbit as he does at the beginning of Fellowship- the fact he hasn't visibly aged is the evidence that tips Gandalf on the idea that Bilbo's ring is a Ring of Power.

BUT... the film production has always signalled that they didn't believe audiences would buy Ian Holme as a younger Bilbo. Honestly, most audiences will easily accept that a younger actor must play the younger Bilbo- and would be confused about the 60 year gap in the timeline if Ian Holme played the role. Therefore we have different actors.
That's fair enough, but I'd like someone who at least resembles him, and not too young.

I guess it just bothers me that he basically already did a scene from the Hobbit in Fellowship so I don't see why he couldn't. :lol
 
MisterHero said:
That's fair enough, but I'd like someone who at least resembles him, and not too young.

I guess it just bothers me that he basically already did a scene from the Hobbit in Fellowship so I don't see why he couldn't. :lol

It was a five-second shot, the makeup tricks wouldn't hold up over four hours of film, not to mention that The Hobbit will be shooting almost 15 years after that flashback scene was filmed.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
I lost pretty much all interest in this when they turned it into a bloated two film epic padded with non-Hobbit sequences, but Martin Freeman would be pretty cool as Bilbo...
 

MisterHero

Super Member
Joe Shlabotnik said:
It was a five-second shot, the makeup tricks wouldn't hold up over four hours of film, not to mention that The Hobbit will be shooting almost 15 years after that flashback scene was filmed.
Yeah I know. :lol I'm just saying that even if the first guy didn't want to/couldn't do it, somebody would have to resemble that appearance regardless of their age

that's what I'd prefer anyways
 

Talon

Member
Cheebs said:
Tennant isn't right for it, McAvory should be it and he is a actual film actor who could lead the film.
I always thought James McAvoy would have fit in perfectly as a hobbit. Anyways, he's a great actor, so I don't know if he'd want to play Bilbo. Not that these two films won't be a huge deal, he likely has more options to where he doesn't have to play a hobbit.
 

Tonay

Banned
Why does it have to be a british guy?


I'm a brit myself but none of those choices seem right. The casting of LOTR was fantastic, particularly Elijah for Frodo.


I think Bilbo should be played by Giovanni Ribisi. In fact, every character should be played like Giovanni Ribisi, make it like The Nutty Professor 2.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
StoOgE said:
Radcliffe might make a very good Bilbo, but I think it would be a terrible career decision for him.

He is already probably typecast. Doing another fantasy blockbuster series would just further cement that.
I don't think so. I think he'd be nuts to turn it down. Anything that's not Harry Potter is a plus for the guy. He's not the greatest actor in the universe, but I hardly think he's an unpassable actor in general.

All of the guys mentioned are too skinny; Hobbits in my mind aren't just short, they're usually a bit pudgy, since they seem the type to not refuse a second or third helping
 
Radcliffe seems young, but I suppose that Elijah Wood was a year younger (being only 18) when principal photography on LOTR began so anything's possible.
 

Zeliard

Member
Ceres said:
Well if that's your one requirement, just go for Kevin Connely. He'll cost a hell of a lot less too.

One good thing about getting Kevin Connolly is they won't have to use any trick photography when he's around bigger characters.
 

Wray

Member
Slightly off topic, but have they announced yet where they are going to split the films?

I'm assuming its after they kill Smaug.
 

Borgnine

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management
Wray said:
Slightly off topic, but have they announced yet where they are going to split the films?

I'm assuming its after they kill Smaug.

The Hobbit storyline is being told across both movies. A lot of people seem to think the split will happen around the time they enter Mirkwood.
 

Speevy

Banned
It was a spectacular chain of events that led to the LOTR trilogy's success.

You had fantasy filmmaking on a scope never seen before, a great cast, and a new decade to usher it all in.

I don't know how successful The Hobbit will be, but I wouldn't want to be the studio behind these films.
 

Retro

Member
Borgnine said:
The Hobbit storyline is being told across both movies. A lot of people seem to think the split will happen around the time they enter Mirkwood.

I've heard the same thing as well.

I would guess that the story will start with brief intro to Middle Earth, then show Gandalf in the Necromancer's dungeons (where he finds Thorin's father, Thrain, and obtains the map and key of the Lonely Mountain). Then the regular plot of the book begins, with maybe a brief break in Rivendell to show what's going on with Sauron and all that. The first movie would leave off with the Dwarves heading into Mirkwood and Gandalf at the White Council.


Gandalf basically disappears until nearly the ending of the book; I can see the story jumping from Mirkwood to Gandalf's side story right up to the Battle of the Five Armies, at which point the tales converge and they wrap things up while maybe alluding to the events of the LotR Movies.

/Tolken Nerdery.
 

agrajag

Banned
I've always said it was a big mistake to have Ian Holm play the young Bilbo in the FOTR flashback scene. I wonder if PJ will make a special edition and edit him out a'la Lucas.:lol
 

Borgnine

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management
Speevy said:
It was a spectacular chain of events that led to the LOTR trilogy's success.

You had fantasy filmmaking on a scope never seen before, a great cast, and a new decade to usher it all in.

I don't know how successful The Hobbit will be, but I wouldn't want to be the studio behind these films.

Really? Seems to me it's money in the bank just on the strength of the original films. I mean they clearly didn't decide to split the Hobbit in to 2 films for purely artistic reasons.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom