More Returning Cast from 'Lord of the Rings' Join 'The Hobbit'

Casting news for the two part film adaptation of "The Hobbit" has been trickling in steadily ever since MGM partnered with Warner Brothers to get the project rolling some months back. Martin Freeman was locked down to play the titular Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. The actors playing the roles of the thirteen dwarves who Bilbo travels with have all been cast as well as some of the key supporting characters such as the wizard Radagast the Brown who will be played by Sylvester McCoy. There are several key roles, such as Bard the Guardsman, which have yet to be cast. However the big news lately has been cast members from "Lord of the Rings" films reprising their roles.

TheOneRing.net has confirmed separate stories that both Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis have finally been confirmed to return. It has always been assumed that both would reprise their roles as Gandalf the Grey and Gollum respectively but deals have now been made. McKellan had stated previously that he prefers the more easy going Gandalf the Grey to the more stern Gandalf the White, which was the iteration of the character he played for two out of three of the "Lord of the Rings" films. Since helping to revolutionize computer graphic characters by playing Gollum for the original trilogy Serkis has become the foremost motion capture actor in movies. He's given motion capture performances for "King Kong" and the yet to be released Adventures of Tintin" and "Rise of the Apes."

What's much more surprising though is the confirmation of actors such as Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee. All three were key characters in "The Lord of the Rings" but none of their characters appear in "The Hobbit" as it was originally written. It seems as though director Peter Jackson and his creative team are doing as much as they can to link "The Hobbit" to the blockbuster trilogy to which it is a prequel. The word of Wood's casting was the most confounding as the character of Frodo wasn't even born during the events of "The Hobbit." The confusion has been cleared up as it's been explained that Frodo will be reading the adventure from the book that Bilbo wrote called "There and Back Again." This will allow Jackson to use the familiar hero as a framing device. There's also rumors of Ian Holm reprising his role as elder Bilbo during these scenes.

While in the inclusion of Frodo has been explained the other characters such as Galadriel (Blanchett) and Sauruman (Lee) have not been. Sauruman would actually not be too difficult to insert as there is a section during which Gandalf leaves the dwarves and consults his fellow wizards. It's a section that is spoken of in the book but little is shown. Galadriel on the other hand would be more difficult as her home of Lothlorien is hundreds of miles away from any of the events that take place in "The Hobbit." With Hugo Weaving not yet confirmed to reprise his role as Elrond there's been some concern amongst fans that Galadriel might be replacing Elrond for the scenes in Rivendell. This however has no real evidence and is only a rumor.

It's an open question as to just what extent Jackson will go to connect characters from "Lord of the Rings" to "The Hobbit." There's been a recurring rumor that Orlando Bloom would make a cameo as Legolas, who like Galadriel has no place in this story. While some of the connections make sense there is a fine line that Jackson appears to be in danger of crossing. The extreme end would be along the lines of George Lucas needlessly putting Chewbacca in a scene of "Star Wars Episode III" just to get a reaction out of fans. Until Jackson clarifies how these characters are going to appear and be used it will be difficult to calm some of the concern of fans.

The final casting deals should be sorted out soon, since shooting is expected to begin new month in New Zealand. The two separate films will likely be shot back to back, as "The Lord of the Rings" was. The first part is currently expected to be released in December 2012, though an exact date has not yet been set. The other piece of news that fans eagerly await is exactly where the break between the two films will take place. While "The Lord of the Rings" was effectively one story told over three films there were still three separate books and clear places to start and stop. With "The Hobbit" it's unclear where the first film can end in a way that will still have some level of satisfaction.