Peter Jackson has revealed that casting for The Hobbit will go ahead this week.
Jackson and the movie’s director Guillermo Del Toro are casting for every role except Gandalf, which will see Ian McKellan return to the role, and Andy Serkis is also expected to return as Gollum.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter the director said: "We're auditioning for every role,"
"What we've done over the years is discover a lot of interesting actors, like Orlando Bloom, Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan. So if you start looking and auditioning seriously, it's amazing what incredible talent you'll find out there."
"We were always planning to shoot around April or May next year, and as far as I'm aware, we're pretty much on target for that."
"It depends on how quickly the studio greenlights the film. It's not in our hands. But as long as we're shooting next year, we're fine."
While Jackson is not returning to the director’s chair for the project he will produce the film and has adapted the novel.
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