The Hobbit pre-production still plodding along

Despite MGM's ongoing financial woes, and last month's news that director Guillermo Del Toro had left the project, pre-production on the upcoming Hobbit films is still moving forward, slowly but steadily

Recently, there were reports that Neill Blomkamp (District 9) had been chosen to direct. These were followed quickly by reports that denied the whole thing.

There have also been casting rumours, concerning some of the dwarf roles. English actor and comedian Bill Bailey is reported to have auditioned for the role of Gloin, the father of Gimli from The Lord of the Rings. Australian actor Simon Westaway is rumoured to have auditioned for the part of Thorin Oakenshield. (Last fall there were similar rumors that Brian Cox and Stephen Fry had also auditioned as dwarves). At this point there is still no confirmation on any of these actors, nor have there been any recent hints as to who will eventually play Bilbo Baggins.









Lastly, construction appears to be proceeding nicely on the Hobbiton set!