Peter Jackson Updates 'Hobbit' Casting and 'Halo'

So...Hobbit casting. Peter Jackson's talking but we don't have much in the way of Bilbo Baggins talk. However, the producer of the two-parter and the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy tells MTV we'll get three familiar cast members when The Hobbit rolls around. Of course, one of those names is no secret: "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," Jackson emptily confirms. As for the others, well, it won't Orlando Bloom or Elijah Wood or Sean Astin in some kind of flash forward device. "There's a couple of other characters: Elrond, who was played by Hugo Weaving, and there's a possibility of Galadriel, who was played by Cate Blanchett." I'm glad to hear that, although I don't remember Galadriel in The Hobbit, but it's been eons since I've read it. However, if the second movie really does veer off into the unincorporated territories - The Silmarilion, say - then she might be in there somewhere. Again, I really don't remember. In a separate interview, Jackson tells TVNZ that he's done with Halo, as in he's folding up his tent and letting someone else develop it. His protege Neill Blomkamp was going to direct it at one point, but that was before District 9. Now, apparently there's no going back. "I don't think Neill would be interested in doing it, and I'd only be interested if he was." Added Jackson, "It wouldn't surprise me if, at some point, Microsoft do manage to get the film made, and good luck to them, it'll be an excellent film."