Ian McKellen Tweets 'Hobbit' Casting, Filming Updates

Sir Ian McKellen, who has been a constant source of "information" about The Hobbit is at it again. I don't really blame McKellen for talking about the project, and it's clearly not his fault that all these delays have happened, but he just hasn't hit it out of the park yet. The latest comes from Twitter, earlier today. "Hobbit sets are ready, script ready and movie is casting this month. Fans are not to worry," notes McKellen, following up the thought almost immediately with "The films will get made. I suspect we'll start shooting at end of this year." I'll let you decide whether or not you want to believe those statements, although the part about shooting by the end of the year seems on target with everything else we've heard. The big question remains about who will direct the films (a two-parter shot the same way The Lord of the Rings was), and the answer is Peter Jackson. It's not official, but when you look at how much time was committed by Guillermo del Toro to a project that never completely got off the ground, Jackson can't just hire somebody and look over his or her shoulder for 18 months while the new director gets up to speed. Plus, Jackson the filmmaker needs a massive hit. King Kong did well but left a lot of people cold and The Lovely Bones was a big black eye. So look for that to be announced in the next few weeks. I just can't imagine a scenario in which Warner Bros., now holding most of the cards in this deal, won't convince Jackson that this is what has to be done to make their investment justified. They're casting this month, though? Sounds like a Comic Con roll-out to me; how about you?