It was recently confirmed Warner Bros. will pay the entire cost of the two installments of The Hobbit, a price-tag that is expected to exceed $500 million. At the same time it was mentioned Elijah Wood may be returning to Middle Earth as Frodo and today I received confirmation this is in fact true.
For those wondering how Frodo would return to a story set before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, official fansite The One Ring writes:
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 Jackson’s 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 Sam’s progeny later having the book and being Wardens of the Westmarch — hence the book’s title.) The fictional book, and either the telling from it or the reading of it, will establish Frodo in the films experiencing Bilbo’s story. Viewers to learn the tale of ‘The Hobbit’ with a familiar Frodo getting the tale as well.
Additionally, it’s now been revealed Wood has signed on to play Ben Gunn in Stewart Harcourt’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” along side Eddie Izzard. The 2 part, 4-hour miniseries will be airing on SKY TV in the UK. Alan Moloney is producing with Steve Barron directing.
Wood will next be seen this summer in FX’s new series “Wilfred”, as well as lending his voice to Warner Bros. Happy Feet 2 set for release November 18th as well as Disney XD’s “Tron: Uprising” (2012). In addition, he is starring in the Sundance short Fight for your Right Revisited directed by Adam Yauch and starring John C. Reilly and Seth Rogen.
There is still no confirmation Ian McKellen and/or Andy Serkis will return as is currently expected.
