Last year Ian McKellen said that he expected to be heading to New Zealand to start filming The Hobbit in March, however since then auditions have been taking place and Peter Jackson said in December that the aim now is to start filming in June. McKellen, who will once again be playing Gandalf the Grey, updated his website recently confirming the June start.
THE HOBBIT’s, two films, start shooting in New Zealand in June. Filming will take over a year. Casting in Los Angeles, New York City and London has started. The script too proceeds. The first draft is crammed with old and new friends, again on a quest in Middle Earth.
The director Guillermo del Toro is now living in Wellington, close to the Jacksons’ and the studio in Miramar.
I guess this means we will finally be getting some casting news over the upcoming months, with the actor chosen to play Bilbo Baggins being the most important. Along with McKellen Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving may be returning to play Galadriel and Elrond, and there will also be a number of Dwarves that need to be cast.
In other Hobbit news TheOneRing.net posted a story saying “an industry insider was adamant The Hobbit would be filmed in 3D and Weta Digital – which won an Oscar for its work on Avatar – would be working on the project.” We’ve had 3D talk regarding The Hobbit for a while, and director Guillermo del Toro recently mentioned that he and the studio were having discussions about it.
Source
