The Lead for 'The Hobbit' to Be Announced Soon

When we return to Middle Earth, we'll need a new Bilbo Baggins. Ian Holm is great and all, but this is a prequel...and I don't think our botox effects are quite that good. Back at Sundance, director Guillermo del Toro said the list was down to a handful of possibilities, and now he tells MTV (via Filmonic) that we're zeroing in on a new Bilbo. "I believe we're very close now to saying the one name. It's horrible, right?" Del Toro struggled with Wonder Woman's lasso of truth when pressed for more specifics (this guy would reveal government secrets, I think), but added that he hasn't officially talked to the actor in question but hopes to make an announcement in a couple of weeks. So reading between the lines, it sounds like The Hobbit braintrust has talked to the reps for Actor X and there's interest on both sides. It is, of course, a big time commitment for whichever actor they choose. The good news is that you don't need a movie star for the role, because you're really selling the brand name. Therefore, rather than placating a studio to place a breakout star in the role, del Toro and Peter Jackson can do what was done in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and award the part to someone who can understand and embody the role emotionally and mentally. There is obviously going to be some symmetry between the two Hobbit films and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I don't think we need to worry very much about the production aspects of it. But casting - and in particular this casting - has to be someone we don't question.