A piece by Eric Snider details how MGM’s financial woes are delaying the production of the Peter Jackson produced Benicio Del Toro directed Hobbit movie. Jackson wrote the script and commented during the Lovely Bones release interviews it was finished. Fans await casting for Bilbo.

Who would make the better Hobbit? Rumors for Bilbo casting have incldued Daniel Radcliffe, David Tennant, Tobey Maguire, and James MacEvoy. Each actor already belongs to a franchise: Dr. Who, Spider Man, Harry Potter, or Narnia’s Mr. Tumnus?

Del Toro will give LOTR fans a new Hobbit, but will Ron Perlman be the voice of Smaug? beorn the Bear-man?

In the film LOTR series Jonathan Rhys-Davies was Gimli, Gloin’s son. But the character of Gloin for the Hobbit prequels won’t be played by the British actor. (from empire.uk)

Casting for The Hobbit will begin this week, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “Apart from Ian McKellen, who [is returning] as Gandalf, we are not really offering any roles to anybody until we’ve done a casting sweep,” Peter Jackson said. He also said that production for the two films is on schedule: “We were always planning to shoot around April or May next year, and as far as I’m aware, we’re pretty much on target for that. It depends on how quickly the studio greenlights the film. It’s not in our hands. But as long as we’re shooting next year, we’re fine.”