On Friday we reported a rumour that Elijah Wood would be returning to Middle Earth for The Hobbit. While many were sceptical – after all, how could Frodo be in The Hobbit, when the events take place before he was born – but now the rumours have been confirmed.
Deadline reports the news and quotes an official notice from Elijah’s agents, saying, ‘Wood is confirmed to star in Peter Jacksons THE HOBBIT to be shot in New Zealand’. So how are they going to do it? Well it appears that the two Hobbit movies will feature bookends, which are set after the events of Lord Of The Rings.
The usually reliable The One Ring says, ‘As readers of The Hobbit know, the tale of The Downfall of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit or There and Back Again, are contained in the fictional Red Book of Westmarch. In Peter Jacksons LOTR films, the books are shown on screen and written in by Bilbo and Frodo and handed off to Sam Gamgee. (Not explained on film are Sams progeny later having the book and being Wardens of the Westmarch – hence the books title.) The fictional book, and either the telling from it or the reading of it, will establish Frodo in the films experiencing Bilbos story. Viewers to learn the tale of The Hobbit with a familiar Frodo getting the tale as well.’
That also leaves the possibility of cameos from the likes of Samwise Gamgee, although that hasn’t been confirmed. The idea has appaarently always been in the script, and could act as a neat way to tie the films together for those unfamiliar with the fact The Hobbit takes place decades before Lord Of The Rings.
We’ll have to see whether it works when the two Hobbit movies hit cinemas in 2012 an 2013.