Guillermo del Toro has confirmed in a chat with BBC Radio 5’s Simon Mayo (at the 02:10:55 mark) that Hugo Weaving will reunite with Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen in The Hobbit.

Del Toro says the trio will return “…as the roles they originated in the trilogy.” Weaving of course played Elrond in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

The audio interview also hints that Andy Serkis and Ian McKellan may also return as Gollum and Gandalf, respectively.

The first of the two films is scheduled to be released in December of 2011 followed by the second in December of 2012.

[Source] TheOneRing.net