UPDATED: Martin Freeman to play Bilbo after all? Nesbitt, Tennant & Fassbender could join him in THE HOBBIT?

UPDATED: It would seem James Nesbitt has been offered the role of Bofur, who those familiar with the novel will know as a dwarf. Nesbitt is 5"11, so I guess it'll be the same photographic trickery that made John Rhys Davies look pint-sized in the original trilogy. Still no word on what role Tennant and Fassbender are circling but there are two other dwarves who take up the quest with Bofur, Bilbo Baggins and the as yet uncast Thorin Oakenshield, if that means anything. Original article follows... There's something intensely gratifying about seeing an actor - who you know deep down in your gut is the perfect man to portray a particular part, and have indeed already spent hundreds of words testifying as much - to actually be the one who is chosen for the dance. But for it to happen twice in a week, well it's put me on top of the world, quite frankly. I couldn't be happier. Just days after Tom Hardy was cast as The Riddler for 'Batman 3', comes news from Deadline that lovable Brit Martin Freeman is very close to working out a deal to play Bilbo Baggins in 'The Hobbit'. This comes just hours after the film was officially greenlit for a back-to-back February shoot, with Peter Jackson returning to direct. It's the perfect scenario - the man behind the 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy directing the perfect embodiment of a young Baggins, but boy did it take some time to get them both here? Expect casting to flood in fast now as WB/MGM/Jackson look to secure their new Middle-Earth occupants. Hot off the press reports say James Nesbitt has been offered a role, and that David Tennant (who could have made an interesting Bilbo) & Michael Fassbender are also being courted. What characters they are, I can't quite fathom but when you add those names to Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Andy Serkis (Gollum), well that's a helluva cast right there. I know that much.
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Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.