The Hobbit gets green-light and announces February start

[Folwren]

It's looking like movies are going in the 3D direction, whether people like it or not. I'm beginning to think it's just another progression of technology and we won't be able to stop it. Bummer.

Glad the movie is going to start sometime, but it's still a long way off...

[Glirdan]

Originally Posted by Foley

Glad the movie is going to start sometime, but it's still a long way off...

As long as it comes out before the supposed end of the world.

[ninja91]

This is really good news because I for one am in love with the LotR movies. As I wear glasses in real life, I do not plan on watching it in 3-D. I am also under the impression that all the greatest movies of all genres have been in 2-D. Regardless, I will pray and have faith that this Hobbit movie will be all I hope.

[Boromir88]

Well the greenlight has seemed to of set things fully in motion now. We've come to the turn of the tide...

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=71003

Martin Freeman, as rumored gets Bilbo. Interesting choice in Thorin there. I think all those years ago in my "Hobbit Dreamcast" I said Keith Allen, from Robin Hood would make an nice scumbag playing the Master of Lake-town. Ah, but we do have his counterpart from the BBC show with Sir Guy, Richard Armitage, getting Thorin.

[Thinlómien]

Is that confirmed confirmed? Richard Armitage as Thorin??? I don't know if I should laugh or cry... I mean, he's totally awesome but he's not what I'd call Thorin-like. Well it will be interesting.

Also:

Rounding out the Company of Dwarves are Aidan Turner (TV's "Being Human") and Rob Kazinsky (TVs "EastEnders") who play Kili and Fili, respectively. --

The remaining dwarves will be played by Graham McTavish (Secretariat and TV's "24") as Dwalin; John Callen (TV's "Power Rangers Jungle Fury") as Oin; Stephen Hunter (TV's "All Saints") as Bombur; Mark Hadlow (King Kong) as Dori; and Peter Hambleton (TV's "The Strip") as Gloin.

Does this mean we'll have only eight dwarves in total? Dislike.

[Mithalwen]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat....... they take the most Numenorean looking man on the planet, the man who was born to play Faramir, and they get him to play a dwarf??? And they will cover his lovely face with a beard...... and and and this prolly means they are killing him off in Spooks................ nooooooooooo

The other dwarves don't speak so may just be very lucky extras...

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

Does this mean we'll have only eight dwarves in total? Dislike.

Of course there will be only eight. People can't count above ten these days, y'know. And I have a sneaky feeling that Jackson or one of his writers thinks that it's a brilliant idea to have Bilbo as the ninth member of the company, making it a parallel Fellowship, thereby "improving" upon Tolkien himself (and incidentally cutting the budget by reducing the number of actors who need to be hired). The incidental reason would be the real one, but I'd take bets that it will be disguised by the other, thus making it appear a maneuver motivated by "literary" concerns.

I wish I were being sarcastic. Alas, I'm not.

[Mister Underhill]

Here's what Jackson said about the dwarves at Comic-Con this summer:

Originally Posted by PJ

We always wanted to retain the thirteen dwarves that Tolkien wrote about. It’s not wise or sensible to be mucking around with that degree of Tolkien lore. So we have thirteen dwarves to cast — it’s going to be a lot of fun. [Laughs] There’s thirteen poor guys who are going to be walking around the mountains in summer wearing big, thick costumes and sweating under their prosthetic makeup. It’s gonna be tough — very, very tough. It is logistically very difficult. You imagine getting those guys through wardrobe and makeup at the beginning of each day and then having them ready to shoot and they’re gonna be passing out in the heat. It’s gonna be tricky. Some of the dwarves are obviously more important than others. We’re isolating about four or five of them to make them the key dwarf players and then the others will be more supporting roles.

Which is fair enough and more or less true to the book -- let's face it, not all thirteen dwarves have a featured role. I imagine that they closed the Martin Freeman deal and wanted to make the announcement right away with what cast they already had. Deadline Hollywood has a few more speculative names that are rumored to be in negotiations (including Bill Nighy for the voice of Smaug).

They don't have a Balin yet as far as I can tell. He's one of my favorites and seems an obvious one to be a more prominent dwarf.