Daniel Radcliffe Says No to The Hobbit

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 18th, 2009

Last month rumors of casting choices for The Hobbit started circulating. As director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson finished the script for the planned two movies, there were “whispers” of a short list for the young Bilbo Baggins that included Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Wanted star James McAvoy, and “Doctor Who” actor David Tennant.

Peter Jackson denied the rumors then and now, for good measure, Radcliffe says he’s not interested in the Lord of the Rings prequels. The 20-year-old actor told the LA Times no one has asked him, but he’d tell them “thanks, but no thanks.” This should come as no surprise considering Radcliffe has said on more than one occasion he’s looking at appearing in smaller, more intimate films for a while.

After eight Harry Potter movies and a decade with the series, it seems Radcliffe is through with fantasy movies. “I’m done. I don’t think anybody involved in that would want me to, either.” Then he added, “Whatever I do next, I don’t think there will be any wizards in it!” I wonder if that includes my idea for a movie, a remake of 1989’s The Wizard starring Fred Savage and the Nintendo Power Glove.

Meanwhile, MarketSaw reported a rumor today the Hobbit will instead be three movies and not two, and the third will be a bridge film directed by Peter Jackson himself. This is highly unlikely considering Jackson told folks at Comic-Con there won’t be a bridge movie and made no mention of re-writing the almost finished script. Since the meat of the rumor is entirely false, I’m not inclined to believe the rest of it which includes a darker take on the characters and possibly stereoscopic 3-D.