Peter Jackson has announced this week that they are opening the casting nets to all for all the roles in “The Hobbit”, the prequel to the “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy, except for Ian McKellen as Gandalf.  Jackson talks about his casting strategy:

“Apart from Ian McKellen, who we obviously want to return as Gandalf, we are not really offering any roles to anybody until we’ve done a casting sweep…  What we’ve done over the years is discover a lot of interesting actors, like Orlando Bloom (in Rings), Kate Winslet (in Heavenly Creatures), Saoirse Ronan (in The Lovely Bones). So if you start looking and auditioning seriously, it’s amazing what incredible talent you’ll find out there.”

“(These movies) have never been a star-driven vehicle. The star is (author J.R.R.) Tolkien and the world he created. We are not under any pressure. We want to find the right people. Casting someone to portray a hobbit is not as easy as you might imagine. They have to have a particular type of physical appearance and a sensibility. And the same with an elf or a dwarf. These are fantastical characters, but you’ve got to find the right people to play them, the right humans to translate these characters.”

This announcement quells rumors that James McAvoy had been offered the role as Bilbo and John Rhys-Davies refusing to come back as a dwarf.

“The Hobbit” will indeed be a two-part film with both films based on the J. R. R. Tolkien book, contrary to what director Guillermo del Toro has suggested previously.  Jackson explains:

“The second Hobbit script is still based on the Hobbit novel.  The Hobbit novel is in two parts… but you’ll have to wait and see the film to find out  [how the novel is split into two films].”

[Source] ScifiWire