James McAvoy is set to play
Bilbo Baggins in
The Hobbit.
McAvoy is in talks to play the fantasy hero in the big screen adaptation of
J.R.R. Tolkien‘s book. He played the faun, Mr. Tumnus in
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.
“A number of names have privately been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black but James is the one the film’s bosses really want,” an industry source said. “They’re expected to have talks with him soon so hopefully it could be confirmed in the not too distant future.”
Director
Guillermo del Toro has refused to commen, only saying: “I can tell you it’s down to a few names that we all agree upon. For our first choice we all said the same name, it was completely magical.”
The Hobbit is the prequel to the
Lord Of The Rings trilogy. In the recent movies directed by
Peter Jackson, Baggins was played by
Ian Holme.
The latest movie is being produced by Jackson, whose interpretation of the original novels won critical acclaim and a host of Oscars, including Best Picture for Return of the King.
