While doing an interview for his new film LOVELY BONES, Peter Jackson shared with MTV what characters from the original LOTR trilogy will make their way into THE HOBBIT film.

“Gandalf, being a 2,000-year-old wizard, is still around and plays a major role in ‘The Hobbit,’ and we’re having Ian McKellen reprise,” explained the filmmaker, who is executive-producing the flick and writing the screenplay. “There’s a couple of other characters: Elrond, who was played by Hugo Weaving [in the original films], and there’s a possibility of Galadriel, who was played by Cate Blanchett.”

Ian McKellan, who played Gandalf originally, is already slated to return. There is not confirmation at this time on Hugo Weaving or Cate Blanchett reprising their roles.

Also, in previous interviews Jackson has said Andy Serkis will return as Gollum.

  

Peter Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter that casting starts this week for THE HOBBIT.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Peter Jackson is shrugging off any rumors that THE HOBBIT production is delayed.

A report from German movie news site MovieReporter.net states that shooting on THE HOBBIT has been pushed back to midsummer 2010. The original start date was expected to be in March or April 2010.

The site quotes Peter Jackson as saying the second script should be completed end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. He also states that they hope to begin shooting at the middle of 2010.

Chief among the reasons for the pushback is the financial problems of MGM which reportedly owes creditors a whopping 3.7 billion dollars.

Don’t fret HOBBIT fans. THE HOBBIT is bound to happen sooner rather than later. There is too much money to made from this franchise. If MGM starts to fold, expect them to sell the rights to THE HOBBIT quickly.

  

Guillermo Del Toro granted TOTAL FILM an exclusive interview about the making of THE HOBBIT. The interview is posted online here. No breaking news is posted, but Guillermo offered some “flavors” of what is to come, particularly around character design. Here are the highlights:

[On Creature Design]

I said we would keep the DNA in the same gene pool as the Rings trilogy, but that we would generate a different type of character. For example, in the trilogy most of the creatures are brutish or inarticulate.

In The Hobbit, the creatures speak: Smaug has beautiful lines of dialogue; the Great Goblin has beautiful lines of dialogue; many creatures do. So we had to design them with a different approach because you are not just designing things that are scary.

I also wanted some of the monsters in The Hobbit to be majestic.

I wanted the Wargs to have a certain beauty so that you don’t have a massively clear definition: what is beautiful is good and what is ugly is not. Some of the monsters are absolutely gorgeous.

[On Smaug]

“I think one of the designs I

So will THE HOBBIT be in 3D or not?

How about this answer: probably, most likely, I really don’t see it happening, NOT.

That is just one small step from a definite “no”.

That appears to be what Guillermo has been saying this week to address rumors that THE HOBBIT will be filmed in 3D. Here are a few statements that he has posted on TORN recently:

As a co-writer and director of this film (who works with the design teams, costume teams, creature teams, VFX teams every day of the week), let me be very clear one more time: we are not talking about 3D, we are NOT writing the screenplay for 3D right now- we are hiring my DoP Guillermo Navarro to shoot the film and we are not discussing 3D with him either or with WETA digital or WB or anyone else.

That should be a little less sidestepping, I hope.

If after AVATAR the market may change and demands are put upon us, etc that is in the future….

We are not discussing 3D at all or “hedging our bets” in regards to a possible future. Haven’t been doing it and are not doing it now. We are full-on en route to a 2-D, film (not digital) production. That alone should tell you something. We’ve been marching to a calendar and preproduction that doesn’t consider the 3D possibility.

So there you go. They are continuing to proceed on a 2D film. The key will be to keep an eye on AVATAR’s release to see, as GDT says, if “the market changes.”

  

In a recent interview with the LA Times, HOBBIT producer Peter Jackson says there should be “something cool” at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con:

I would imagine because at next year

Peter Jackson spoke to fans at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, but disappointed those looking for some fresh news on the much-anticipated HOBBIT project. Here is a synopsis of what he had to say:

• No casting has been done at this time
• They are three to four weeks away from handing in the first draft of the script
• The project has not been officially greenlit, so no budget yet

Source: Cinematical.

Filmink has just posted an exclusive interview with Guillermo Del Toro on their website. In the video below, GDT talks about THE HOBBIT, Weta, THE STRAIN, and, of course, food.

Guillermo del Toro Interview from Dov Kornits on Vimeo.

Filmink magazine is available for sale throughout Australia and/or by emailing dina@filmink.com.au for an application to buy it from overseas.

Steve Weintraub from Collider.com recently posted an interview with Mike Mignola. Among the topics covered:

• What