'The Hobbit' Is Making Room for Some 'Lord of the Rings' Characters

'The Hobbit' Is Making Room for Some 'Lord 

of the Rings' Characters

"Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson's long-awaited film(s) of "The Hobbit" -- it'll be broken up into two movies -- will finally start shooting in February, which means he needs to nail down his cast for this adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien book that preceded "Rings." And this week it was announced that two big stars from the "Rings" trilogy were set to reprise their elven roles in "The Hobbit": Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom. That seemed like good news, but then we realized something: Their characters aren't even in Tolkien's book. So why are they going to be in the movie?

The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Tuesday that Blanchett would once again be Galadriel; then a day later Deadline reported that Bloom is close to a deal to return to play Legolas. What neither story discussed is that Jackson is apparently writing the characters into the story of "The Hobbit": Galadriel is mentioned in other Tolkien works but doesn't appear in "The Hobbit," and as for Legolas, he first shows up in "The Fellowship of the Ring." And according to Deadline's story about the Bloom casting news, Legolas will be more than a walk-on role. Likewise, considering how gushing Jackson was in announcing Blanchett's involvement, calling her "one of my favorite actors to work with," it seems like she might be doing more than a cameo as well.

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We confess to never having read any Tolkien, but our friends who did were all pretty pleased with Jackson's reverent "Lord of the Rings" adaptations. He's clearly not going that way with his two-part "Hobbit" film, however, which will be shooting back-to-back and is expected to be released in installments in December 2012 and December 2013. Why the change of heart? It's hard to say. As The Guardian points out, Jackson did flesh out several of Tolkien's minor female characters for the "Rings" trilogy. And besides, he might understandably feel that he's built up enough good will with the Tolkien faithful to make a few "Hobbit" alterations.

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But while Jackson retools "The Hobbit," Deadline's story brings up another intriguing development, which is that negotiations to bring back actors Ian McKellen (who played Gandalf) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) -- who actually are in the original book -- "have been arduous and aren't completed yet." Considering that "The Hobbit" will star Martin Freeman (one of the stars of the original, British "The Office," who's hardly a household name) as Bilbo Baggins, Jackson is probably happy to let fans know that at least some of the actors they loved from the "Rings" trilogy will be putting in an appearance. It could backfire, though, if those same fans scream heresy because he's daring to tamper with Tolkien's story.

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