James Nesbitt & Adam Brown Join THE HOBBIT; Sir Ian McKellen Not Under Contract to Return

Warner Bros has revealed the latest round of actors, and their respective roles, who will star in the two-part film, which is still lacking the reprisal of McKellen.

PRESS RELEASE: One of Britain's most beloved actors, James Nesbitt (Millions and TV’s Cold Feet), is the latest actor to join the ensemble cast of The Hobbit, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.; and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Nesbitt will play Bofur, a disarmingly forthright, funny and occasionally brave Dwarf. "James's charm, warmth and wit are legendary as is his range as an actor in both comedic and dramatic
roles. We feel very lucky to be able to welcome him as one of our cast," said director Peter Jackson.

Newcomer Adam Brown will play Ori, another of the Dwarf Company which sets out to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the infamous dragon, Smaug. Jackson comments, “Adam is a wonderfully expressive actor and has a unique screen presence. I look forward to seeing him bring Ori to life”.

Nesbitt and Brown will join the cast announced on October 21, which includes Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage (soon to appear in Captain America: The First Avenger), Aidan Turner (TV’s Being Human), Rob Kazinsky (TVs EastEnders), Graham McTavish (Secretariat), John Callen (TV’s Power Rangers Jungle Fury), Stephen Hunter (TV’s All Saints), Mark Hadlow (King Kong) and Peter Hambleton (TV’s The Strip).

Since The Hobbit films received a green light on October 15, pre-production has been in full swing with release dates set for December, 2012 and December, 2013. The two The Hobbit films are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production, Warner Bros Pictures handling domestic distribution and MGM distributing internationally.

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham are producing the films, with Phillipa Boyens serving as co-producer and Ken Kamins as executive producer. The Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed LOTR trilogy, also from the production team of Jackson, Walsh and Cunningham, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box office. In 2003, “Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture – the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time.

In other Hobbit news, Broadway World recently caught up with Sir Ian McKellen, who portrayed the wizard Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.. During the discussion about his current slate projects, The Hobbit was inevitably brought up.

Unfortunately for fans of Sir Ian's representation of Gandalf, the actor admitted that he is still under no contract to return to the franchise. Though pressed to divulge whether he has participated in any talks with Peter or the studio to return, he only reiterated that he is not currently contracted to reprise his role.

The Hobbit stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton. The first of the two-part film is scheduled for theatrical release in December 2012.