While Peter Jackson and the rest of the Hobbit team have now completed their first block of shooting on the two movies that comprise the adventure, it appears there’s still some room for news, as Jackson hit Facebook today to announce that Lost’s Evangeline Lilly and, even more intriguingly, Barry Humphries, are joining the cast.
Lilly, still best known for her work as Kate on the island-set mystery/sci-fi series (though she'll be seen in the upcoming Real Steel), has signed on to play a new character that Jackson describes in his latest posting thusly: “the Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Her name means 'daughter of Mirkwood' and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.)"
Humphries, meanwhile, is the man behind Aussie comedy character Dame Edna Everage. But Edna, possibly the world’s most famous housewife, will not be showing up in Middle-earth. Instead, Humphries is on to play the Goblin King, utilising Gollum-style performance capture.
Between these two and the recent casting of Luke Evans and Benedict Cumberbatch, Jackson reports that he’s filled pretty much all the major roles on the film. Now we just want to see footage…
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will amble into cinemas on December 14 next year, followed by The Hobbit: There and Back Again in 2013.