Even though Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit has been filming for some time now, two new roles have just been cast.

Earlier today, Deadline reported Immortals star Luke Evans would take on the important role of Bard the Bowman in the two-part film. “It seemed evident that the Welsh actor was going to win one of these roles that involve a competition between multiple young thesps,” writes Deadline, “He was a finalist to play the lead in Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Legacy that went to Jeremy Renner [Newsarama note: odd coincidence of bowman here], and was a finalist for the role of Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, which went to Joel Edgerton.” Are you happy he landed this role instead?

Evans’ character Bard has a, shall I say, rocky relationship with the next character cast?

And just minutes ago, Deadline broke another bit of Hobbit casting news. This time for one of the most iconic roles, that of the great dragon Smaug. Fans have been wondering for some time who would land the coveted role, voiced by Richard Boone in the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated film.

The voice-acting and motion-capture role for The Hobbit has gone to none other than Benedict Cumberbatch. The actor has recently shot into wider popularity thanks to the BBC hit Sherlock, by Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat. “[Cumberbatch] is already on the picture, providing the voice of the character Necromancer,” says Deadline.

Are you as excited by this casting news as I am? I have to say, I’m particularly fond of Cumberbatch. If you haven’t seen Sherlock yet, I highly recommend it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 16th, 2011 at 6:14 pm and is filed under Announcements, Books, Casting, Movies, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.